The Congress on Wednesday said the party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, his predecessor Sonia Gandhi, and Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have turned down the invitation to attend the Ram Mandir inauguration on January 22, saying the incomplete temple was being inaugurated for electoral gain.
“The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the [ruling] BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and [its ideological fountainhead] the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain,” the party said in a statement.
The party added millions worship Lord Ram and that religion is a personal matter. “But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya,” it said. “While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment [that paved the way for the temple construction] 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.”
On December 31, the Congress said the three leaders had been invited to the inauguration and added that the party would announce its decision on accepting the invitations at an appropriate time.
People aware of the matter said a section of the leaders favoured the Congress’s presence at the event while Rahul Gandhi opposed it, saying building the temple was BJP’s pet plank and that the event would turn out to be a show of strength ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
{{/usCountry}}People aware of the matter said a section of the leaders favoured the Congress’s presence at the event while Rahul Gandhi opposed it, saying building the temple was BJP’s pet plank and that the event would turn out to be a show of strength ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
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