Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has called for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya to be performed by President Droupadi Murmu, stating that it is a matter of national pride and the country’s self-respect. Thackeray plans to invite Murmu to the Kalaram temple in Nashik on the day of the consecration ceremony. He highlighted that when the Somnath temple in Gujarat was restored, the ceremony was presided over by the country’s first president, Dr Rajendra Prasad. Thackeray’s demand comes after Vishva Hindu Parishad working president Alok Kumar, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Ram Lal, and Ram temple construction committee chairperson Nripendra Mishra invited Murmu to the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. The Shiv Sena chief also announced that some of the party workers who were part of the ‘kar seva’ during the Ramjanmabhoomi agitation in 1992 will be felicitated at the party’s convention in Nashik. In response, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar accused Thackeray of reading Sanjay Raut’s script and challenged him and his son, former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray, to contest Lok Sabha polls and get elected.