The Opposition and the ruling government will face each other on Monday over the former’s demand for reopening places of worship and lifting the ban on the upcoming Dahi Handi mahotsav organised during Janmashtami.

Turns out, BJP’s religious frontal organisation Adhyatmik Samanvay Aghadi’s appeal for gathering outside temples has received support from the party’s state unit. State BJP president Chandrakant Patil said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had kept the places of worship shut for five months after the first lockdown. “While the situation has improved now, temples and other religious places are still shut, depriving dependents of their livelihood. The [Uddhav] Thackeray government hasn’t helped people, who depend on religious places, with wages and income. Most other states have reopened places of worship,” said Patil, adding that the party is staging a protest.