Public Holiday Declared in Maharashtra for ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Ayodhya Temple
Mumbai: The Eknath Shinde government on Friday announced a public holiday on January 22 on the occasion of ‘pran pratishtha’ (consecration ceremony) of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Maharashtra has joined the BJP-ruled states of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in doing so.
The general administration department (GAD) issued a notification declaring the public holiday on January 22.
The development comes after the Modi government at the Centre declared a half-day holiday in all its offices, institutions and establishments, including banks, across the country on January 22 to mark the consecration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
BJP-ruled Maharashtra is the eighth state where January 22 has been declared a public holiday. Earlier, a public holiday was declared on the day of ‘pran pratishtha’ (consecration ceremony) of the Lord Ram in BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan and Haryana. Even some of the states have issued orders to ban the sale of liquor and meat on January 22.
In the first week of January, Maharashtra cabinet minister and senior BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha requested the chief minister seeking a public holiday on January 22. Besides Lodha, BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar and Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik had also urged the Chief Minister to declare January 22 as a public holiday.
Post this, the GAD had submitted its proposal to the chief minister office stating that they can not give a public holiday for this type of programme as there is no precedent for it. However, the chief minister approved the public holiday for January 22.