Thane MLA Pratap Sarnaik on Monday wrote to the Ram Mandir Trust that Thackeray be invited formally to the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on August 5 where PM Narendra Modi will also be present. The move came hours after Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that CM Uddhav Thackeray didn''t need an invitation to go to Ayodhya because his party had paved the way for the mandir.

Sarnaik shared the letter with media persons on Monday. He said he has written to the chief trustee of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra requesting him to invite the Sena president.