Mumbai | Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam on Tuesday said politics was not the arena of Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, and he should desist from commenting on it.
Nirupam's remarks came after the religious leader met Uddhav Thackeray here on Monday and said that the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief was a victim of betrayal.
"I want to tell the Shankaracharya that you speak on religion and spirituality, and guide us. You are our religious guru. But do not speak on politics. It is not his arena," Nirupam told reporters here.
"Uddhav Thackeray has been betrayed, and many people are anguished by it. I met him today as per his request and told him that people's pain won't subside till he becomes the (Maharashtra) chief minister again," the Shankaracharya had told reporters after the meeting at `Matoshree', Thackeray's Bandra residence.
The Shankaracharya had, notably, turned down the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya earlier this year.
In his reaction, Nirupam said it was Thackeray who entered into an alliance with the Congress and undivided NCP (after severing the ties with the BJP).
"That was a betrayal. If it was not a betrayal, then it was a political decision for fulfilling one's ambitions," the former MP said.
Hitting back, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said if anyone had an issue with what Shankaracharya said, it meant he did not accept Hindutva.
