Hitting out at the Congress after it turned down the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple, Union Minister Giriraj Singh claimed that the grand old party does not have the “moral strength” to go to Ayodhya. Labelling the Ram Temple inauguration an event of the BJP and RSS, Congress turned down the invitation for the ‘Pran Pratistha’ ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla, scheduled to be held on January 22.
“These people are seasonal Hindus; when they feel they have to get votes, they try to become soft Hindus,” Giriraj Singh told ANI on Thursday. He further asserted that since Jawaharlal Nehru, no one in the Congress has gone to Ayodhya.
“It was the Congress party itself that had done the work of pending the case in the court; hence they do not have the moral strength to go to Ayodhya,” he added. Earlier Union Minister Smriti Irani accused the Congress and the INDIA bloc of having an Anti-Sanatan mindset.
“Congress party’s anti-Lord Ram face is before the nation. It is no surprise that under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, the party that had filed an affidavit before the court that Lord Ram is a fictional character, its leadership declined the invitation to the ‘pranpratishtha’ of Ram Temple…Under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Congress, INDI Alliance has insulted Sanatan Dharma again and again. Now, the declining of the invitation to the ‘pranpratishtha’ by leaders of the INDI Alliance reflects their anti-Sanatan mindset,” Smriti Irani said.
On Wednesday, senior Congress leaders–Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury– ‘declined’ the invitation for the grand event in Ayodhya, the party’s general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.
“Last month, the Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and the Leader of the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury received an invitation to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya to be held on January 22nd, 2024,” he said in the statement.
“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 obviously been brought forward for electoral gain. While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgement 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.
Preparations are underway in full swing for the Ram Temple ‘Pran Pratishtha’ on January 22, which will draw dignitaries and people from all walks of life. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22. As per temple officials, the ceremony will be held over seven days, starting on January 16.
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‘Don’t have…’: Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Congress turning down Ram Temple invite
