E-Paper
Invitation sent…let’s see if Lord Ram calls Akhilesh: VHP chief
Only people known to each other extend invitations; our Gods are PDA - Pichhade, Dalit and Alpasankhayak (Backward, Dalit and Minority), says SP chief
LUCKNOW A war of words erupted between Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Alok Kumar and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over the invitation for the upcoming Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Kumar said: “Invitation has been sent to him...let’s see if Lord Ram calls him.” On the sidelines of a party event in Lucknow, Yadav retorted: “I don’t know him. Only people known to each other extend invitations.”
He also hit out at the BJP-led government, saying it is against minorities. “This government is against minorities. Our Gods are PDA - Pichhade, Dalit and Alpasankhayak (Backward, Dalit and Minority),” he said.
The SP chief said this when asked about Alok Kumar’s comments on a TV news channel in New Delhi on Tuesday morning. He neither accepted nor denied any information whether he got the invitation yet.
Earlier, VHP international working president Alok Kumar had said: “Sometime back, I read his (Akhilesh’s) statement wherein he was quoted as saying that ‘If he gets an invitation for the ceremony, he will go’, so we have invited him; then I read another statement saying ‘If Bhagwan Ram Ji calls, then I will go’. So, now I am eagerly waiting to know if Ram ji calls the Samajwadi Party and its president or not. If not called, then it will be clear to people that Bhagwan Ram does not want (them).”
Over the last month, Yadav made several statements about the invitation. He said if he got an invitation, then he would go. However, more recently he said: “This is God’s programme, and the chief minister can’t be bigger than the God. Whomsoever God calls, will run to God. If God calls me, I will go.”
Yadav said this the day after chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s statement in Mathura on Monday. “Those who were hesitant in going to Ayodhya are now complaining about not receiving the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony at Ram Temple,” he said.
