New Delhi: Ahead of the grand consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, senior Congress leadership including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday declined the invitation for the grand ceremony scheduled on January 22, calling it a RSS/BJP event for electoral gain.
“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,” Congress said in a statement.
“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,” Congress added.
Earlier, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust sent invitations to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to attend the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple on January 22.
The consecration ceremony scheduled for January 22 will witness the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple. It will be attended by hundreds of officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.