IGATPURI/THANE: Cries of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Pehle mandir phir sarkar’ and ‘Chalo Ayodhya’ echoed from platform 7 of Thane station on Thursday as a special train carrying thousands of Shiv Sainiks began rolling around 2.50pm — about half an hour behind schedule — for

, which will be a key electoral issue for the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

After Thane mayor Meenakshi Shinde performed an aarti of the engine, over 2,000 Sainiks, wearing saffron caps and scarfs and armed with placards, boarded the LTT-Ayodhya train at Thane to join the mega rally, maha sabha and maha aarti organised by the party over the weekend.

“We have been hearing about the government’s promises to build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya for the past few elections, and now it is high time they speed up the process,” said

corporator Naresh Mhaske.

The train, which picked up more supporters from Kalyan, Kasara, will reach Ayodhya by Friday night. A maha aarti will be arranged at Naya Ghat on Saturday evening at 5.15pm.

Strangely, members of the Sena’s women’s wing and

were missing on the train. When asked, a Sena office-bearer said they have been asked to lead the maha aartis planned to be held across the state simultaneously with Thackeray’s aarti by the Saryu.