Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, visited Uddhav Thackeray at his residence, Matoshree, in Mumbai on Sunday. During his visit, the Shankaracharya also participated in a puja ceremony at Matoshree.

Swami Avimukteshwaranand said that Thackeray is a “victim of betrayal,” pointing out that in Hindu Dharma, betrayal is considered a sin. He was referring to the political moves that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray.

The Shankaracharya, however, added that his remarks were not political. “We don’t have anything to do with politics, but we are talking about betrayal which is a sin according to our religion.”

In his remarks to reporters after the meeting, the Shankaracharya voiced his support for Thackeray, who had to resign as Maharashtra chief minister after Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, splitting the party, led a faction of MLAs to join the BJP. Soon after, Shinde became the Maharashtra CM. In February 2023, the Election Commission of India recognised the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena.

“All of us are followers of Sanatana Dharma. We have a definition of ‘paap’ and ‘punya’. ‘Vishwasghat’ (betrayal) is said to be one of the biggest sin, same has happened to Uddhav Thackeray,” Swami Avimukteshwaranand said, who met Thackeray upon the latter’s request.

“Uddhav Thackeray has been deceived. I told him (Uddhav Thackeray) that all of us were pained by the betrayal he had to face. Our pain will not go till he again becomes the chief minister of Maharashtra,” he added.

Without naming anyone, Swami Avimukteshwaranand said that “a person who commits deceit cannot be a Hindu. The one who bears it is a Hindu.”

“The people of Maharashtra are anguished by what happened with Uddhav Thackeray and it was also visible in the Lok Sabha elections. This is also a disrespect to the people who choose their leader. It is wrong to pull down a government before its term ends and insult the public mandate.”

In January this year, he, along with the three other Shankaracharyas, had turned down the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

Talking about Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami laying the foundation stone of a Kedarnath temple in Delhi on July 10, the Shankaracharya said, “When the address for Kedarnath is in the Himalayas, how can it be in Delhi? Why are you confusing the people?”