Sena's stand on Ayodhya issue a 'nautanki': Congress
Mumbai, Oct 4 : The Congress in Maharashtra Thursday dismissed as "nautanki" (drama) the Shiv Sena's announcement that its chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya after Dussehra to reaffirm his party's commitment to the issue.
Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil asked the Sena to implement its threat to walk out of the BJP-led coalition governments at Centre and in Maharashtra before playing politics on the Ram temple issue.
Sena's announcement came a day after Ram Janmabhoomi Trust chief Janmejay Sharanji Maharaj met Thackeray at the party's headquarters Sena Bhawan here.
Earlier in the day, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said only his party has the "courage" to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
"The Sena had made the announcement to quit the government 235 times in the past, but still continues to remain in power with this anti-people and anti-farmer government. Sena's statement on Ayodhya is nothing but a nautanki," said the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly.
Attacking the BJP, he said the saffron party has been "attacking" Mahatma Gandhi's twin principles of truth and non-violence, but still has no qualms in celebrating his birth anniversary.
Ram temple construction in Ayodhya has been one of the core issues of the BJP, which is an ally of the Shiv Sena.
The Sena, which has resolved to go solo in the future elections, has often targeted the BJP for "delaying" the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya despite having a majority.
The Supreme Court recently declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam which had arisen during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute.
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Nashik court sends ‘godman’ Kharat to seven-day judicial custody in third rape case
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Nashik (PTI): A court in Maharashtra's Nashik on Monday remanded self-styled godman Ashok Kharat to judicial custody till April 20 in a third case of rape against him for allegedly sexually exploiting a pregnant woman.
The special investigation team (SIT) produced Kharat for a virtual hearing in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani as his police custody in the case ended on Monday.
The SIT presented the remand report and sought judicial custody for Kharat, a former merchant navy officer. The court then remanded him to a seven-day judicial custody till April 20.
In the third case, Kharat, who was first arrested in mid-March, is accused of sexually exploiting a seven-month pregnant woman, the wife of his office staffer.
According to the complaint lodged by the victim's husband, the accused sexually assaulted the survivor on multiple occasions, including in his office in Nashik, between November 2023 and December 2025.
Kharat also conducted a ritual with the pregnant woman at a temple in Mirgaon village of Sinnar taluka of the district, it said.
Although the victim informed her husband about her plight, he did not believe her. But when he heard about complaints of Kharat's misbehaviour with other women, he planted a spy camera in the astrologer's office to find out the truth and recorded his acts.
The employee later handed over to the police a pen drive containing objectionable videos of the 'godman'.
Kharat faces nearly a dozen cases, eight of them related to sexual assaults.
The SIT, meanwhile, has filed an application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in another case. As the court granted them the necessary permission, the team will take the accused's custody from the Nashik Road Central Jail.
Kharat will be produced in court again in the fourth case on Tuesday.
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