Raj Thackeray

With his trademark 'perpetually irked countenance', Raj Thackeray cracked the whip on his party leaders and workers, virtually snapping at them to be seen among the people, grab eyeballs and clamber onto the centre-stage of state politics -- where the 16-year-old MNS is relegated to the sidelines, though sporadically making it to the headlines too.

"I shall be undergoing hip bone surgery on June 1... I have been in pain since some time in the legs and now also in the back," Raj -- the estranged cousin of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray -- said at a rally here. Post-surgery, he would be recuperating for a couple of months but promised to write a letter to 'all Hindu sisters and brothers' on the MNS' ongoing agitation against loudspeakers on mosques in the state.

MNS spokesperson Sandip Deshpande and party leader Bala Nandgaonkar were at a loss to explain what actually prompted the unexpected decision, but assured that Raj Thackeray will enlighten the people about it at his planned public rally in Pune on Sunday.

Calling it a protest for self-esteem, the BJP MP said during a press briefing here that if Raj Thackeray did not apologise, protests will be staged against his visit and he will not be allowed to enter Ayodhya city.

MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar met Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil and apprised him of the alleged threats -- coming reportedly from some Muslim organisations -- being received by Raj Thackeray and himself.

On Wednesday, Lallu Singh, a BJP MP from Ayodhya, said that anyone who comes to seek the blessings of Lord Ram is welcome. Lallu Singh's statement is in stark contrast from that of BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been vehemently opposing Thackeray's visit, saying that he should first apologise to north Indians for his campaign against them before stepping into the holy city.

Congress's state chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said the BJP must define its stance on its Kaiserganj MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh's warning that Raj Thackeray would not be allowed to set foot in Ayodhya next month (June 5) until he apologises with folded hands for "humiliating" north Indians in the past.

"This is a state run on the laws and Constitutiona not on the basis of some deadlines given by someone. IF they want, they can give such 'ultimatums' in their homes," Nationalist Congress Party's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said sharply.

A majority of the mosques in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra reportedly did not use the loudspeakers for the morning 'azan' call to the faithful, the MNS chief told mediapersons at his home. "In Mumbai, there are 1,140 mosques... According to the reports I received since morning, only 135 sounded the 'azan' call on loudspeakers before 5 a.m., flouting the Supreme Court directives," Raj claimed.