Lucknow: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and fellow Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs, visited Ayodhya on Sunday and offered prayers to Lord Ram at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple site. According to news agency ANI, this was Shinde’s first visit to the holy temple town since being sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister in June last year. He also later visited the under-construction Ram temple here.


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Talking to reporters about his Ayodhya trip, CM Shinde said, “Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has revived the pride of our faith,” and also appreciated the development works being undertaken by the state government in Ayodhya. 


 



 


Shinde and his team paid a courtesy visit to CM Yogi Adityanath at his official residence here. Adityanath also hosted a dinner in honour of the Maharashtra Chief Minister and his entourage. 


 



 


The Shiv Sena leader was on a two-day tour of Uttar Pradesh during which he visited Ayodhya, his first since becoming Maharashtra chief minister last June. During their meeting with Adityanath, the group of ministers from Maharashtra shared their experience of visiting Ayodhya and appreciated the development works being undertaken in the city.


Shinde said Adityanath has revived the "pride of our faith" and added that under his leadership, "the city of Lord Ram is touching new dimensions of development". According to a statement issued from the Chief Minister's Office here, CM Yogi Adityanath welcomed Shinde and his team and said "Maryada Purushottam Prabhu Shri Ram is our ancestor as well as the soul of this country".


 



 


"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is realising the vision of 'Ram Rajya' in the country by bringing the ideals of Lord Ram into his life," he said. Under his leadership, Ayodhya is becoming the world's most luxurious city and the center of global pilgrimage, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said.


Shiv Sena UBT Mocks Shinde's Ayodhya Visit


 


However, taking a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the members of his government for their visit to Ayodhya, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut Son unday said, “Farmers in Maharashtra are facing problems. Ignoring all these issues, the government of the state went to Ayodhya. Will Lord Ram bless them…?”


 



 


Speaking to the news agency ANI, Raut added that the Shinde Sena was copying his party. “We also believe in Lord Ram. We have also gone to Ayodhya several times. But the BJP never came with our party. When the Babri Masjid incident happened, they ran away… They are copying us. The public knows who is the original and duplicate.”


“If you had so much faith in Lord Ram, you won’t have fled to Surat and Guwahati, you would have gone to Ayodhya,” Raut attacked the Shinde Sena referring to the political drama that unfolded in Maharashtra last year after Eknath Shinde fled the state with party MLAs. “This Ayodhya trip is sponsored by BJP. They are copying us and doing mimicry.”