The grand old party put an end to speculations about whether it would attend consecration ceremony or not by announcing that “the party will skip ‘Pran Pratishtha’ (consecration ceremony) of Lord Ram at the newly built Ram Temple in Ayodhya.”
Calling the consecration a “RSS/BJP” event, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have “respectfully” declined the invitation.
In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh stated, “Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in the country, and the religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain. While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgement and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event.”
Last month, Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and the Leader of the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, received an invitation to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, to be held on January 22.
Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issue and called it a “gimmick show” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Bengal CM’s remarks indicate that the BJP is using the extravagant event for political posturing to gain mileage in the run-up to the polls.
On the other hand, Delhi BJP media head Praveen Shankar Kapoor has criticised the Congress’s decision not to attend the consecration ceremony.
He said, “What else could we have expected from Congress leaders and Samajwadi Party leaders who, at given points in time, had arrested the kar saveks, In fact, then Samajwadi Party Supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was UP CM at that time, had ordered firing on kar saveks. So what else can we expect from them? They will reject the invitation for the consecration ceremony.” He added.
They don’t want the temple to come up on January 22. They want to delay the temple and want it to come after the Lok Sabha elections. This is in their hearts. They politicise everything, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the consecration ceremony of the idol of Ram Lalla at the Grand Ram Temple on January 22. As per temple officials, the ceremony will be held for seven days starting on January 16.
Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, holds great spiritual, historical, and cultural significance for the people of India.
From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahotsav. A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22.
