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Updated: Nov 09, 2019 12:43 IST

The Shiv Sena on Saturday reiterated that neither the Centre nor any political party can take credit for the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit dispute in Ayodhya.

Speaking minutes before the Supreme Court pronounced the verdict, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the issue of the construction of a Ram Temple in place of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was lying in “cold storage”. He added that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray gave a push to the issue by speaking about it and visiting Ayodhya twice in the last 30 months.

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Raut said that those eager to take credit for their leaders had said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had nothing to do with the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. “That time one man, [Shiv Sena founder] Balasaheb Thackeray, openly said that if Shiv Sainiks had done it, he was proud of it,” said Raut.

Shiv Sena and the BJP have been at loggerheads over the government formation in Maharashtra since the election results were announced in the state on October 24. The Sena has insisted on rotating the chief minister’s post saying that the two parties have agreed to it before the April-May national elections as part of a “50-50” power-sharing agreement.

Devendra Fadnavis, who has maintained that no “50-50 formula” had been agreed to, resigned as Maharashtra chief minister on Friday amid a war of words between the BJP and the Shiv Sena as they could not form a government before the term of the last assembly ended.

Raut said that the verdict is important for the party as many Shiv Sainiks have sacrificed their lives for the issue. “Shiv Sena’s contribution to the Ram Janmabhoomi struggle has been immense and many Sainiks have sacrificed their lives. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has kept the issue alive by visiting Ayodhya twice... therefore, his contribution is also crucial. The government cannot take credit...,” he said.

Uddhav Thackeray, too, on Friday said that the BJP-led Union government cannot take “credit” for the Supreme Court’s much-awaited Ayodhya verdict. “We had requested the government to make a law on the construction of Ram Temple [in Ayodhya] but the government did not do that. Now, when the SC is going to pronounce the verdict, the government cannot take credit for it....”