Shirdi bandh over Thackeray’s comments
Shirdi/New Delhi, Jan 19 (HS): A ‘bandh’ was called in Shirdi town for Sunday after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray sparked a row with his comments on Sai Baba’s birthplace.
An office bearer of Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust said on Sunday that the shutdown was being observed in surrounding villages including the main city but the main Shirdi temple was open for devotees.
The controversy erupted after the chief minister Udhav Thackeray announced a grant of Rs. 100 crore for development of facilities at Sai Janmasthan (birth place) at Pathri.
Deepak Mugalikar, CEO of Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, had said that the temple would remain open even in the bandh call. However, many establishments were closed and streets were also empty on Sunday morning.
Former Maharashtra minister and BJP MLA, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said that the chief minister should withdraw his statement that Pathri was Sai Baba’s birthplace.
He said, “Pathri only has one of several Sai temples in the country. All Sai devotees are feeling hurt.”
Local residents and leaders in Shirdi demanded that the chief minister must withdraw his official statements describing Pathri in Parbhani district as Sai’s birth place.
They asserted that it was Shirdi in Ahmednagar district where 19th-century saint Sai Baba had spent much of his life. They also said that the birth place of the Saint was not clear so the Chief Minister should withdraw their controversial comments over the issue.
