With just a fortnight left for the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP in the state on Sunday started their campaign to woo Hindu devotees in this election year.
BJP stalwart and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and his son and state president B Y Vijayendra today started knocking on the doors of Hindus in Bengaluru offering them Akshata along with an invitation letter to perform special pooja on January 22 at home.The BJP leaders also requested families to light five lamps in front of their house marking the ‘home coming’ of ‘Ram Lalla’ to his abode in Ayodhya after ‘centuries of exile’.
After offering special prayers at a Hanuman temple here, Vijayendra told reporters that Lord Rama devotees would go to every household and request them to offer special poojas either at home or any nearby temples.The Congress has issued directions to the temples under the control of the Hindu Religious Endowment Department to organise special poojas on January 22.
“On January 22, Ram temple will be inaugurated in Ayodhya. I have told the Hindu Religious Endowment Department to conduct special prayers in all temples under its control on that day,” Muzrai Minister (Hindu Religious Endowment) Ramalinga Reddy told reporters.
‘Party will take call, nothing to politicise’: DK Shivakumar on attending consecration
Bengaluru: As the date for the grand consecration at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple draws near, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar asserted that neither he nor the Chief Minister have received the invite to the ceremony on January 22.Adding to the speculations on whether the grand old party will attend the much-anticipated event, the Congress veteran said that the party will take the call. “I have not been invited. Neither our CM nor I have been invited. I saw that our Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) has been invited but the party will take a call,” Shivakumar said.
Projecting himself to be a ‘Ram bhakt’, Shivakumar said that it is all within oneself, adding that there is nothing to politicise. “I’m a Hindu; I’m a Ram bhakt; I’m a Hanuman bhakt. We all pray from here. We have it within ourselves, in our hearts. There is nothing to politicise here,” the Congress leader said.As per sources, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge have received the invitation for the consecration.However, the party hasn’t yet confirmed the attendance.
