Uddhav Thackeray warns of 'Godhra-like incident' over Ram Temple inauguration, BJP fumes

The temple is scheduled to be inaugurated in January, months before the Lok Sabha election. The inaugural ceremony is likely to be attended by tens of thousands of Hindus from across the country.

Speaking at an event in Jalgaon, Uddhav Thackeray referred to a "possibility that many Hindus will be called from all over the country in buses and trains... and, while returning from there, a Godhra incident can be carried out somewhere on the way."

"This can happen... attack can happen. In some colony they will burn buses, throw stones... massacres will take place. The country will be on fire again... and they will bake their political bread on these flames," the Shiv Sena UBT leader declared.

At least 58 people were killed in February 2002 after some coaches of the Sabaramati Express were set on fire at Gujarat's Godhra Railway Station, leaving an entire country traumatised.

The mishap triggered protests and riots, for which a local court convicted just 31 people (63 were released) nine years later. Appeals against the conviction, upheld by the Gujarat High Court, are now pending before the Supreme Court.

Responding to the comment, former Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wondered what the Shiv Sena UBT leader's late father Balasaheb Thackeray would feel.

"With whose (Balasaheb Thackeray) blessings he (Uddhav) became a big leader... will he speak like this? The Ram Janmbhoomi movement which Balasaheb blessed? This alliance against PM Modi can go to any limits for votes," the senior BJP leader said.

"I would like to pray to Lord Ram to give them (the INDIA opposition alliance) some wisdom," he said.

"I would like to pray to Lord Ram to give them (the INDIA opposition alliance) some wisdom," Prasad said.

"I don't know what Balasaheb (late Shiv Sena founder and Mr Thackeray's father) would have thought... what is Uddhavji doing for greed of power?" he asked, "Rahulji, Uddhavji didn't say a word when things were said about Sanatan Dharma."

The Ram Temple is being constructed on land claimed by both Hindus and Muslims but awarded to the former by the Supreme Court in 2019 in a landmark verdict.

The mega inauguration will take place months before the 2024 general election, in which the BJP, which has championed the building of the temple, will cash in to come back for an unprecedented third term in power.