Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI, JAN 10 : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders including former president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will not attend the Ram Temple consecration event to be held in Ayodhya on January 22, a party communique said on Wednesday.

Shared on its official X (formerly known as Twitter) handle, the letter termed the mega consecration ceremony as “RSS/BJP event”.

Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had received an invitation to attend the ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22.

However, the grand old party alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya.

“Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. 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 statement said.

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“While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event,” it added.

Reacting to Congress’s decision to not attend the mega-inauguration ceremony, Vishva Hindu Parisad (VHP) said that if the grand old party does not want to attend Ram Lalla’s event, it’s their choice. “We have sent the invitation, it is okay if they don’t want to come,” the right-wing outfit said, according to sources.

Notably, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai said that he will visit Ayodhya for Ram Lalla darshan and take a holy bath in Saryu river on January 15. However, Rai said that he has not been invited to the consecration ceremony.

PREPARATIONS IN FULL SWING

The Ram temple in Ayodhya will be inaugurated on January 22, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and over 6,000 people, including celebrities, industrialists and others, expected to attend the ‘Pran Pratistha’ ceremony.

The first phase of Ram temple is nearing completion and preparations are in full swing for the big day. Temple authorities are receiving gifts from all parts of the country and even abroad.

More than 3,000 gifts for Lord Ram, including silver shoes, ornaments and clothes, from Sita’s birthplace in Janakpur in Nepal have arrived in Ayodhya.

A 108-foot-long incense stick, which weighs 3,610 kg and is almost 3.5 feet wide, has been prepared in Gujarat’s Vadodara over a period of six months.

A Lucknow-based vegetable vendor has especially designed a clock that denotes the time in eight countries at the same time. The Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan in Mathura is preparing to send 200 kilograms of laddu to Ayodhya.

Additionally, the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, has also announced it will send one lakh laddu for distribution to devotees on the big day.

-PTI