E-Paper
‘Invitees should definitely visit’: Uddhav's Sena on Ram temple event in Ayodhya
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declined the invitation, calling it a ‘BJP/RSS event’.
Days after top Congress leaders declined the invite to the Ram temple consecration ceremony, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said that those who have been invited should visit Ayodhya on January 22.
"Those who have been invited should definitely visit Ayodhya for the inauguration of Ram temple," Raut told reporters.
“Ram is not a private property of Bharatiya Janata Party. Ram belongs to everyone. Those who have been invited and even those who haven't, all should visit.”
"Who are they (BJP) to extend invitation? Have they constructed BJP's office in Ayodhya?" he asked rhetorically.
Ayodhya Ram Mandir LIVE Updates
The Congress last week said that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, his predecessor Sonia Gandhi, and Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will not attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony on January 22, calling it a “RSS/BJP event”.
“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,” the party said in a statement.
“While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment [that paved the way for the temple] 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.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, meanwhile, has extended an invitation to President Droupadi Murmu to attend a pooja of Lord Ram at the Kalaram temple in Nashik on January 22. Thackeray said the Shiv Sena (UBT) would perform an aarti of the Godavari river and take out a rally of party workers at Nashik.
