Mumbai: Buoyed by the success of its Ayodhya tour, Shiv Sena has now set its sight on making the upcoming Pandharpur rally a grand hit and for this, it has coined a new slogan that will appeal to common Maharashtrians, who worship Lord Vitthal.

While embarking on the Ayodhya tour last month, Shiv Sena had created the slogan ‘Har Hindu Ki Yahi Pukar, Pehale Mandir Phir Sarkar. (Every Hindu has only one demand — first the temple and then the government.)’ Based on this, the party has coined ano-ther slogan for its Pandharpur rally: ‘Vithunamacha Jaijaykar, Peh-ale Mandir Phir Sarkar (Hail the name of Vitthal — first the temple and then the government.’

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will address a Dharm Sabha (religious congregation) at the Chandrabhaga Maidan at Pandharpur on December 24. To carry forward his demand for the construction of the temple, the Sena chief will address the congregation of religious leaders and the public there.

Keeping the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in mind, the party has planned to make a grand show of strength in the form of Dharm Sabha. It has asked all its 227 shakhas in Mumbai and its units in rest of the state to mobilise crowds for the Pandharpur rally.

To ensure large crowd for the rally, the party has arranged pilgrimage tours of Pandharpur and surrounding religious places. “The Shakha Pramukhs have been asked to mobilise minimum two busloads of supporters for a pilgrimage tour of holy places of Akkalkot, Gangapur and Pandharpur coinciding with Datta Jayanti on December 22. At least 30,000 Sena supporters from Mumbai are expected to attend the rally at Pandharpur,” said a Sena insider.

On December 24, the Sena has asked all its supporters to gather at Pandharpur for the mega congregation.

Last month after visiting the site of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, the Sena president had addressed a similar Dharma Sabha of religious leaders in Ayodhya.