Nagpur: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday accused people linked to BJP of bringing shame to Lord Ram through the alleged donation theft at Ayodhya’s Ram temple and added the saffron party had no moral right to question whether Uddhav Thackeray can fluently recite Ram Raksha. Uddhav will be leading the Ram Raksha Andolan at Nagpur on July 18.“Whether we know Ram Raksha or not, we will show you,” said Raut, “question for you should be about theft at the Ram temple (Ayodhya). The donation box theft and embezzlement over the years run into crores. Do you accept this or not? Your people are involved in the theft, so you should speak on that.”While UBT got a green signal from Nagpur’s Ram Nagar-based Shri Ram Mandir for Ram Raksha recitation, they hit a roadblock over accommodating thousands of party workers expected for the Saturday event. The adjoining ground has been booked by the local BJP member for a religious event to celebrate CM Devendra Fadnavis’ birthday on July 22. “Since the ground is not available to us, we will hold a small event outside the temple or on streets by setting up a stage,” he said. The party plans to first recite Ram Raksha inside the temple and Uddhav is expected to address media and party workers outside. But with space paucity, getting police permission for the second phase looks difficult.Taking a jibe at BJP again, Raut said, “We are people of the street and will hold the programme on the street itself. They stole Lord Shri Ram’s garments, stole his ornaments, stole Sita Mai’s mangalsutra, her earrings, her nose-ring. They’ve brought Hindutva to the streets.”With little chance of the local BJP unit allowing UBT to hold an event at the adjacent ground, Raut said the saffron party had got its priorities wrong. “CM’s birthday is more important than the theft at Ram temple. He is a big man after all,” Raut said.
