After Congress on Wednesday announced that its top leaders like Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and the party’s Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have turned down the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, BJP hit out at the Congress saying that it is yet another “evidence” showing that the party is “anti-Hindu”, saying that “Congress has lost its mind as Ravana did in Treta Yug”.
Earlier in the day, the Congress announced that Kharge, Sonia, and Chowdhury have “respectfully declined” the invitation to attend the consecration event, claiming that the Ayodhya Temple has been turned into a “political project”.
Calling out Congress for taking no steps in the last few decades for a temple in Ayodhya, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said that the party has since long denied Lord Ram’s existence and delayed the Supreme Court hearing. Thus, it comes as no surprise that it will not attend the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony.
Slamming the Congress, Union minister Smriti Irani said its leaders have turned down the invitation for the consecration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya Dham, which for devotees of Lord Ram is an important moment. In fact, she added that they had filed an affidavit in court that Bhagwan Ram has no existence, thus, repeatedly insulting the Sanatan Dharma.
BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill charged that first Stalin’s DMK criticized the Sanatana Dharma, then Sharad Pawar’s NCP declared Lord Ram a meat eater, and today, the Congress party declined the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha. He stated that this is not a mere coincidence, but a well-thought strategy to hurt the beliefs of Bharatiyas. “Nafrat ka samaan’ is sold at Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan’, he added.
Amid the ongoing debate, the Congress party’s Uttar Pradesh unit had recently declared that they would offer prayers to Ram Lalla a week before on January 15, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, showcasing that cracks are emerging within the party. Congress’s decision is also expected to be a huge upset for some workers and some INDI alliance partners. Already, Congress leaders like Acharya Pramod from Uttar Pradesh and Arjun Modhawadia from Gujarat have termed the decision “wrong”.
In a period marked by heightened religious enthusiasm, the recent choice made by Congress solidifies the perception that the Grand Old Party would sideline the sentiments of the masses in order to maintain their streak of appeasement. The repercussions of the statement made by DMK’s Udayanidhi Stalin’s statement, advocating the ‘elimination of Sanatan Dharma,’ and its endorsement by Congress, have already drawn some heavy flak from the common people.
Furthermore, Rahul Gandhi’s decision to launch his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on January 14, before the Ram Temple event, and skip Ayodhya while traveling through many other cities of UP, is another testament to the current mindset dominating the Congress philosophy. Perhaps the not-so-grand but old party, which termed the historical consecration as a BJP RSS event, is scared that if its leaders attend the Ram Mandir consecration, it might not go down well within the people South of Bharat, the only remaining strong turf of Congress.
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