D. Raja, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), announced on Friday that the party will not participate in Ram Lalla’s Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22. Raja stated that the event, which was primarily organized by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for political purposes, violates the principles of a secular democratic state.
Addressing the media, D. Raja emphasized, “Our party will not participate in the Pran Pratishtha ceremony. It is a state-sponsored political event organized by the BJP and RSS combined. It is known to the whole world and all countries. The BJP and RSS have combined, making it a political event for their electoral gains.”
Raja raised concerns about the violation of constitutional principles that advocate for the Indian state’s neutrality toward religions. He criticized the participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS chief in the event, asserting that such involvement contradicts the ideals of a secular democratic state.
“The Constitution makes it clear that the Indian state should remain a secular democratic state. The Indian state should be neutral toward all religions. Indirectly, it should not take steps to provide de facto official religious status to any particular religion. But here, what we are witnessing is that the PM is going, and along with him, there will be RSS’s chief participating in that event,” he added.
Questioning the timing of the Ram Temple event, Raja suggested that it was strategically planned just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He accused the BJP of attempting to exploit the ceremony for a massive electoral and political campaign.
“What is happening in our country? The temple event is being done while keeping an eye on the Lok Sabha elections. Because they (the BJP) think they can convert this event into a huge electoral campaign—a political campaign to hoodwink people at the time of elections,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to preside over the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony at the Ram Temple on January 22, an event that has attracted significant global attention with invitations extended to several VVIP guests from India and abroad. Vedic rituals for the ‘Pran-Pratishtha’ ceremony will commence on January 16, a week before the main event.