Uddhav a victim of betrayal, says Shankaracharya

July 15, 2024 18:49

Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, who turned down the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, on Monday said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray is a victim of betrayal.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his blessings when they met at the Shubh Ashirwad' ceremony of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Mumbai on Saturday, the Shankaracharya said he is Modi's well-wisher.

"Yes, PM Modi came to me and did a pranaam. It is our rule that we will bless whoever comes to us. Narendra Modiji is not our enemy. We are his well-wishers and always speak for his welfare. If he makes a mistake, we also point that out to him. He is not our enemy," he said.

"Uddhav Thackeray has been betrayed and many people are anguished by it. I met him today as per his request and told him that people's pain won't subside till he becomes the chief minister again," he told reporters after meeting Thackeray at the latter's residence Matoshree in Bandra.

He (Uddhav) said he will do whatever was needed as per our blessings, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said.

"Betrayal is the biggest sin, he said, adding, "The one who betrays can't be a Hindu. The one who tolerates betrayal is a Hindu. The entire populace of Maharashtra is anguished by the betrayal and this was reflected in the recent (Lok Sabha) elections," he said.

"We don't have anything to do with politics, but we are talking about betrayal which is a sin as per religion," he added.

Uddhav Thackeray had to resign as Maharashtra chief minister in June 2022 after Eknath Shinde rebelled, walking out with a majority of the Shiv Sena MLAs with him to become the CM by forming the government in alliance with the BJP.

The Shankaracharya also attended a puja ceremony at Matoshree bungalow.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Osama's close aide, Al-Qaeda leader arrested in Pak

Amin ul Haq had allegedly planned sabotage activities across the province and wanted to target important installations and personalities.

Heavy rains lash Mumbai; railway, bus transport hit

Incessant rain with intermittent heavy spells led to waterlogging on some roads and railway tracks, slowing down the public transport services.

India's long history of near misses at the Olympics

India's tryst with fourth-place Olympic heartbreaks

Airlines report disruption in operations due to Microsoft outage

Microsoft users globally, several in India, have reported massive outages in services, with outage tracking website Downdetector showing users flagging disruptions across various services. Globally, the Microsoft cloud outage led to US...

SC dismisses Bilkis Bano's rapists plea against remission

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar termed the plea as "absolutely misconceived" and said how can it sit in appeal over an order passed by another bench of the apex court.