2 dargahs were built on Pune-temple's land: MNS claims

Pune: The Maharastra Navanirman Sena (MNS) claimed on Sunday that two dargahs were built on Punyeshwar temple land in Maharashtra's Pune city. The Raj Thackeray-led party's new claim comes when the dispute on Gyanvapi mosque sits in Varanasi Court, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, Varanasi Court on Monday reserved its verdict on the Gyanwapi Masjid case. The ruling is expected on Tuesday, IANS reported.

The fresh claim was made by MNS general secretary Ajay Shinde, who announced that his party had started the 'Punyeshwar Mukti' (free the temple land) campaign. According to him, a commander of the Khilji dynasty ruler Alauddin Khilji had demolished the Punyeshwar and Narayaneshwar temples in Pune and later, dargahs were built on that land.

"Like Gyanvapi, we are also fighting for the Punyeshwar temple in Pune," he said.

He urged people to support the party's campaign to restore temple lands.

Mentioning the recent survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, Shinde said the government has started waking up in the wake of Raj Thackeray's stand on Hindutva.