Mumbai, Apr 11 (IANS): Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday demanded sacking of a BJP Minister who claimed that the late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray or his men had nothing to do with the razing of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Launching a strong attack, former Chief Minister Thackeray also targeted the ruling Shiv Sena Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and ally Bharatiya Janata Party after Minister Chandrakant Patil's comments on the late Balasaheb stirred a fresh controversy.

"When the Babri Masjid structure was being demolished, all these rats had scurried to hide in their holes... Where was this 'gomutra-dhari' Patil all these years and why has he emerged after 30 years...?" asked Thackeray.

He called upon Shinde to immediately sack Patil or take his resignation, and if he couldn't do this, "then stop taking the name of Balasaheb Thackeray or using his photos, and resign".

Thackeray said that "they (Shinde and his 40 MLAs) have lost the moral right to even utter Balasaheb Thackeray's name" and asked why are they keeping shut now.

"This is nothing but an attempt to dilute Balasaheb's contributions in history... First they erased the Mughal era from history books, now they are trying to wipe out even Hindutva from the textbooks," said an irate Thackeray.

Patil speaking to a private local TV channel on Monday had said that "not a single Shiv Sainik" had taken part in the razing of the Babri Masjid, sparking off a huge political row between the ruling alliance and Shiv Sena (UBT).

Responding to Thackeray's outburst today, Patil said that he had full respect for Balasaheb Thackeray and reiterated the circumstances behind the mosque falling, and declared that he had not "insulted" the late Shiv Sena founder in any manner.

He said that the mosque structure was brought down by "Hindus" and not specifically any Shiv Sainik, and the agitation was led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad then.