Son of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Abu Azmi, Farhan Azmi, in ‘a challenging tone’, on Thursday said he too would go to Ayodhya and build Babri Masjid there, if Maharashtra Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray visits the city, News 18 reported.

Azmi’s remarks came days after CM Thackeray said he was going to visit Lord Ram’s birth place on 7 March and seek his blessings.

“He says that he will go to Ayodhya in March. I would like tell him that I will come along with him. If he tries to lay the foundation for Ram temple, we will lay the foundation for Babri Masjid,” Farhan said.

The Chief Minister would go to Ayodhya to seek the blessings of Lord Ram upon completing 100 days in government, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had said, earlier on 22 January.

Raut had also invited Congress leader Rahul Gandhi among other new alliance partners to accompany the Maharashtra CM.

If the Shiv Sena chief makes the announced visit, it would be his first one ever since he formed the coalition government with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), after his party’s alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to an end.

Earlier amid the struggle of government formation, CM Thackeray had cancelled his scheduled visit to Ayodhya reportedly due to security reasons, which was scheduled on 18 November.

"Due to security concerns in Ayodhya, the Shiv Sena chief did not get permission from security agencies to visit the place," sources in the party had said.