A day after villagers of Shirdi and surrounding villages declared an indefinite bandh in the temple town, life is back to normal.Residents called off their indefinite shutdown late on Sunday evening ahead of the meeting of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray with prominent persons and political representatives from Shirdi.
The villagers were upset with the chief minister having referred to Pathri as the birthplace of Saibaba. Residents of the town with a population of at least 40,000 had declared a ‘bandh’ to protest Thackeray’s announcement of Rs 100 crore for the development of Pathri village in Parbhani, which the CM referred to as the birthplace of the saint.
Shirdi Member of Parliament Sadashiv Lokhande said that the CM had withdrawn his statement declaring Saibaba’s birthplace as Pathri and were awaiting the official confirmation for the same. He said, “The CM asked the Shirdi temple stakeholders if they have an issue with the allocation of Rs 100 crore for the development of Pathri. However, the stakeholders clarified that they are not against any development initiative in the area and only want withdrawal of the CM’s statement about Saibaba’s birthplace. We are satisfied with the assurance given by the chief minister.”
Shirdi MLA Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who also attended the meeting, said that the meeting was satisfactory. “The residents of Shirdi are satisfied and happy and business establishments were open throughout the day on Monday and the issue has been peacefully resolved,” Patil said.
{{/usCountry}}Shirdi MLA Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who also attended the meeting, said that the meeting was satisfactory. “The residents of Shirdi are satisfied and happy and business establishments were open throughout the day on Monday and the issue has been peacefully resolved,” Patil said.
{{/usCountry}}According to the Ahmednagar police, all shops and commercial establishments like hotels and restaurants, remained shut from midnight following the bandh call on Sunday.
However, the Sai Baba Samadhi Temple functioned as usual, with the poojas and aartis performed as per schedule and the prasadalaya serving food and prasad to the pilgrims. Private buses were on the roads, but public transport vehicles were off the road, which caused problems for tourists and devotees visiting Shirdi, local officials informed.
Meanwhile, the controversy led to doubling of devotees visiting the Pathri temple, claimed trustees of the Sai Sansthan at Pathri. Sanjay Bhusari, a temple trustee, said, “The number of devotees visiting the temple has gone up significantly after the statement made by the CM. The CM has announced Rs 100 crore corpus fund for the development of the roads leading to temple, prasadalaya, parking arrangements, toilets and a host of other facilities for Sai bhakts.”