Raj Thackeray calls off ‘maha aarti’ on Eid, as Maharashtra sees red after his explosive speech

Tuesday’s ‘aarti’ was to be held at central Mumbai’s Prabhadevi Temple at 6.30 pm and was expected to see participation from Hindu groups.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray addresses a public rally in Aurangabad, on 1 May 2022 | ANI photo

New Delhi: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has called off the ‘maha aarti’ scheduled Tuesday to mark ‘Akshaya Tritiya’.

In a tweet Monday, Thackeray appealed to MNS workers to refrain from the ‘aarti’. He stopped the planned ‘aarti’ as Eid would be celebrated on 3 May, he said.

Thackeray tweeted: “The loudspeaker issue is not a religious matter but a subject of public interest. I will inform tomorrow what further needs to be done through my Twitter handle.”

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Appeal to Maharashtra Sainik's… pic.twitter.com/sTzbTI14Qu

— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) May 2, 2022

Tuesday’s ‘maha aarti’ was to be held at central Mumbai’s Prabhadevi Temple at 6.30 pm and was expected to see participation from Hindu groups VHP and Bajrang Dal.

The MNS chief has been at the forefront of the loudspeaker controversy, asking state mosques to take down loudspeakers by 3 May. He threatened his party workers would otherwise play the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ outside these religious places from the next day.

At a public rally in Aurangabad Sunday, Thackeray had remained firm on the 3 May deadline for removing loudspeakers used for ‘aazan’ – a call to prayer.

He said if the Uttar Pradesh government could remove the loudspeakers – which he termed a nuisance — what was stopping the Maharashtra government, led by his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said Monday that Thackeray’s speech was aimed at “creating a divide in society”, and hinted at action against him.

Walse Patil also said Thackeray’s speech was centred around attacking Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar, whose party is in power with the Shiv Sena and the Congress in Maharashtra.

Thackeray had accused the NCP chief of playing caste politics in Maharashtra, and said he was allergic to the word ‘Hindu’.

Walse Patil said he would talk to top officials and would soon take a call on the “inflammatory” speech. He said: “We will also get a report from Aurangabad.”