Thackeray launches ‘Ram Raksha Andolan’ to “protect” Ram from the BJP

Thackeray’s wheeling back to Hindutva is being seen as an attempt to revive his Hindu vote base as also an effort to galvanise the party cadre after the recent defections of six MPs and MLC Sachin Ahir

MUMBAI: Amid the outcry over the theft of donations to the Ram temple at Ayodhya, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday launched the ‘Ram Raksha Andolan’ by reciting the Ram Raksha Stotra, Hanuman Chalisa and Maruti Stotra with thousands of party workers at Dadar. While warning that his party and Hindus would not tolerate the looting of the Ram temple, he urged the community to unite and confront the Narendra Modi-led BJP government on the donation misappropriation, and reiterate the old slogan ‘Garv Se Kaho Hum Hindu Hain’ (Declare with pride that we are Hindus).

Mumbai, India – 05 July 2026: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, along with Aditya Thackeray and Shiv Sena activists, performed the Ram Raksha Maha Aarti at Dadar Hanuman Mandir today to condemn the alleged Ayodhya Ram Mandir scam, in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, 05 July 2026. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

Thackeray’s wheeling back to Hindutva is being seen as an attempt to revive his Hindu vote base as also an effort to galvanise the party cadre after the recent defections of six MPs and MLC Sachin Ahir.

Addressing party workers gathered at the Hanuman temple near Dadar’s Kabutar Khana, Thackeray recalled his late father and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray who, he said, gave “scared and confused” Hindus confidence in the late 1980s by coining the slogan ‘Garv Se Kaho Hum Hindu Hain’. “The time has come to raise this slogan again, when Hindus are in a dilemma after the Ram temple donation theft,” he said. “Back then, it was Maharashtra which led Hindus in India; this time too we will lead the war against those plundering the temple.”

Criticising the BJP central government, Thackeray charged that it was “looting Hindus” and said that the thievery, which had begun with Kedarnath and Badrinath, had now reached Ayodhya. “A couple of years ago, the Shankaracharya, publicly alleged a gold scam at Kedarnath Temple,” he said. “And just yesterday, a former civil servant who donated over one kilogramme of gold for the gold-plated Ramcharitmanas has sought answers on its utilisation, and has complained that the trust did not give him any answers.’

Thackeray declared that the BJP had “first hypnotised Hindus in the name of Hindutva and are now looting Hindus in the name of Hindutva”. “I urge all Hindus in the country to wake up and unite against this loot, and demand stringent action against the culprits,” he said. “We need to throw out the BJP central government.” In a throwback to Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s slogan ‘Ab Hindu Maar Nahin Khayega’, Thackeray said, “I want to tell them ‘Ab Hindu Maaf Nahin Karega’ (Now Hindus will no longer forgive).”

The Sena (UBT) chief warned that there was anger among Hindus and Ram devotees and declared that they would “burn the Lanka (read: the BJP government) of injustice”. “Ram belongs to all, and we need to protect Ram from the BJP,” he said. He also slammed the Maharashtra BJP leaders who criticised the Ram Raksha Andolan, and urged BJP supporters to join the movement against the looting of the Ram temple.

When asked for a response by the media, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed the movement. “Uddhav Thackeray left the path of Lord Ram, and that’s why his party’s position sank to this level,” he said. “Thackeray needs to recite the Ram Raksha (a protective mantra) every day.”