Thackeray slams Gadkari's Ram temple statement

Mumbai, Feb 20: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has now lashed out against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari for appealing to the Muslim community on Ram Temple issue saying that the statement insulted the Ayodhya kar sevak 'martyrs'.

In the party mouthpiece Saamna, Bal Thackeray wrote, "Appealing to Muslims (to help in building Ram temple) is an insult to hundreds of kar sevaks who became martyrs during the Ram temple agitation."

"Gadkari has appealed to Muslims. Exactly to whom has he appealed because the leadership of radical and jehadi Muslims is no longer in India but in Pakistan, where terror outfits wield the remote, dictating Muslims in India what to do and how to behave," the Sena chief added, before questioning, "If permission of Muslims is to be sought for building the Ram temple, why was the temple agitation launched in the first place?"

Urging the BJP to stick to the Hindutva ideology, Thackeray said, "Hindus could have fallen at the feet of the Imam of Jama Masjid and got a piece of land for Ram temple. It was easily possible. But Hindus have shed blood for the Ram temple."

This statement by Bal Thackeray is being seen as yet another indication of the growing rift between the saffron allies.

OneIndia News