Between Lord Ram and Babur, Congress will always choose the latter and hence their refusal to attend the Ram Mandir consecration event on January 22 is good, their presence would have spoiled the event, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said carrying on the tirade against the Congress. Earlier too, Himanta led the attack on the Congress saying that they lost an opportunity to reduce their past sins. He said the Congress leaders should not have been invited to the event in the first place. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Himanta shared a 2005 photo of Rahul Gandhi at Babur Tomb in Afghanistan's Kabul.

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The Congress called the January 22 event a BJP/RSS one planned for election gains and announced that Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would not attend the event. "Those who have faith can go to the temple today or tomorrow," party president Mallikarjun Kharge said adding that what the controversy is BJP's conspiracy.
"The Congress will bow down in front of Babur rather than Ram Lalla. The VHP gave them an opportunity to absolve their sins. What more help could they do for the Congress? They don't want to reduce their sins. From Nehru to Rahul Gandhi, all of them went to Babur Tomb," Himanta said.
'Bhoot pishach kept at bay'
BJP leader Tejasvi Surya on Friday commented on a similar line and said the Congress leaders have declined the Ram temple invitation because the devotees have been chanting Hanuman Chalisa which keeps evil spirits at bay. "I asked one of our workers in Bihar, why, in his view, were leaders of the 'Ghamandia' turning down invitations for the January 22 function. The worker said devotees chant the verse 'Bhoot pishach nikat nahin aave, Mahavir jab nam sunaave' (evil spirits scamper away upon hearing the name of Hanuman, also known by the sobriquet Mahavir)," Tejasvi said.
{{/usCountry}}BJP leader Tejasvi Surya on Friday commented on a similar line and said the Congress leaders have declined the Ram temple invitation because the devotees have been chanting Hanuman Chalisa which keeps evil spirits at bay. "I asked one of our workers in Bihar, why, in his view, were leaders of the 'Ghamandia' turning down invitations for the January 22 function. The worker said devotees chant the verse 'Bhoot pishach nikat nahin aave, Mahavir jab nam sunaave' (evil spirits scamper away upon hearing the name of Hanuman, also known by the sobriquet Mahavir)," Tejasvi said.
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