PM Modi, who did not name anyone, tagged such talk as "anaap shaap" (rubbish)

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said his party's stand on the Ram Temple issue mirrored the "sentiments of Hindus", a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked "loudmouth" leaders to have respect for the legal process.

"Who was he (PM Modi) referring to? I am not indulging in 'bayan-baazi'. I am just highlighting the sentiments of Hindus," Uddhav Thackeray said when asked for his reaction on PM Modi's remarks, news agency PTI reported.

Launching the election campaign in Maharashtra PM Modi on Thursday said, "I want to tell these ''bayan bahadurs aur badbole log' (loudmouths) to have some respect for the legal system and the courts".

The Supreme Court is currently holding daily hearings to the title suit on the 60-year-old temple-mosque dispute, and said the process must be completed before October 18. The judgment has to be delivered before Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi retires on November 17, or the entire process will go into re-start mode.

But notwithstanding the legal situation, a section of leaders have been vocal about the temple construction. Mr Thackeray, who had been pressing the government to bypass the legal process and issue an executive order so the temple construction could begin, has repeatedly expressed confidence that the process will start during PM Modi's tenure.

PM Modi, who did not name anyone, tagged such talk as "anaap shaap" (rubbish). "I urge you and request you with folded hands not to make such immature and unnecessary statements... The matter is in the topmost court of country. Have faith and let them carry out the process as they deem best," he had said.

Uddhav Thackeray, stressing that his party had faith in the Supreme Court, said, "But this case is pending in the court for several years. I had gone to Ayodhya last year, and even now, before the (Maharashtra) Assembly polls, I have a wish to go to the temple town again."

The Sena chief said that during his visit to Ayodhya, he had demanded that the (Union) government show courage and "intervene" if there was delay in the court order. "If the prime minister feels the verdict will be out soon and we have to be more patient and wait, it is fair enough," Uddhav Thackeray said.

with inputs from PTI