The event is being seen as a passing of the baton to Aaditya Thackeray
Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's son Aaditya will be in Ayodhya today, where he will address a press conference.
Aaditya Thackeray will offer prayers at the Ram temple in Ayodhya at 5:30 this evening. Later he will also perform the Saryu Aarti following which he will return to Lucknow and head back to Mumbai. Mr Thackeray will also visit the Hanuman Garhi temple and Laxman Killa in Ayodhya.
Aaditya Thackeray's Ayodhya visit assumes significance as it is the first solo visit of the 32-year-old whom the Shiv Sena projects as its future leader.
The event is being seen as a passing of the baton to Aaditya Thackeray who was brought into politics by Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray. Earlier, Aaditya had visited Ayodhya along with his father Uddhav Thackeray.
The Shiv Sena has made this event a show of strength with several top leaders in Ayodhya drumming up support for him. Top Sena leaders like Sanjay Raut and Eknath Shinde have been in Ayodhya since yesterday.
The Sena, which has been accused of moving away from Hindutva by the BJP, has hit back saying the BJP's Hindutva is fake. Mr Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya is being interpreted as the Shiv Sena's commitment to the Hindutva ideology as it accuses the BJP of double standards and using proxies like Raj Thackeray to target it.
The announcement for this trip was made around the same time when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray proclaimed that he would visit Ayodhya amidst the Hanuman Chalisa and Azaan row in Maharashtra. Later, Raj Thackeray's trip was cancelled on 'health grounds' amidst opposition from Brijbhushan Singh, a BJP MP who had demanded an apology from Raj Thackeray for targeting migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. However, Brijbhushan Singh has welcomed Aaditya Thackeray to Ayodhya.
The Shiv Sena has arranged two trains from Mumbai for party members to travel to Ayodhya. About 8,000 Shiv Sainiks are expected to be in Ayodhya from Mumbai and Thane alone.
Maharashtra over the past few months has seen a bitter battle over 'Hindutva' politics resulting in several parties announcing trips to Ayodhya.
While the BJP has been targeting the Sena for dumping it and stitching together an alliance with ideological oppositesNationalist Congress Party and Congress, Raj Thackeray has also jumped onto the 'Hindutva' bandwagon with an aim to cut into the Sena's votes.
Raj Thackeray has emulated the style of Bal Thackeray in terms of speech for many years, but recently in his public rallies, he also emulated the Sena patriarch's attire.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has hit back at Raj Thackeray using a Bollywood reference. "Sanjay Dutt started seeing Gandhi and started doing Gandhigiri, today there is a fellow in Maharashtra who sees Balasaheb and thinks he is Balasaheb by wearing a shawl," said Mr Thackeray.