Not many took it seriously when Shiv Sena secretary Milind Narvekar, who also doubles up as party president Uddhav Thackeray's personal secretary, put up banners in July this year, informing Mumbai that Thackeray would travel to Ayodhya. The banners displayed at strategic locations, such as Dadar's Sena Bhavan, said the Ayodhya tour was an ambitious move in national politics and the impact of it would be like 'Sau sunar ki, ek lohar ki' (one hammer punch by the blacksmith is heavier than a hundred by the goldsmith).

Four months later, Thackeray's Ayodhya tour has turned out to be a political game-changer. Firstly, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) realised the Sena's foresight. The Sangh chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat took a decisive position on the Ram Temple issue in his Dussehra rally speech in Nagpur. It happened hours before Thackeray told sainiks the dates of his Ayodhya visit at Shivaji Park's annual Dussehra rally. Lapping up the Sena idea, the RSS then got the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and other members of the Hindutva brigade to organise a massive Dharm Sabha in Ayodhya and rallies in several cities on November 25 to put pressure on the BJP government to expedite building of the Ram Temple. The bigger show was expected to overcast the Sena's smaller event in Ayodhya, but it didn't.