Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad on Wednesday said that he will not attend the January 22 consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
“I will not go to Ayodhya to attend the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony of the Ram Temple,” Prasad said without citing any specific reason for not attending the event.
The ‘Pran Pratishta’ ceremony will be held in Ayodhya on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with thousands of other dignitaries, politicians, film stars, athletes and religious gurus have been invited to attend the ceremony.
However, the Opposition has boycotted the ceremony terming it a political function of the BJP and RSS, centred around Prime Minister Modi.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leader Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have also “respectfully declined” the invitation of Ram Mandir’s consecration ceremony.
The Left has also refused to attend the ceremony and accused the BJP of “politicising religion”.
So far, none of the Opposition’s INDIalliance leaders have accepted the invite. Earlier this week, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had also refused to go to the Ram temple on January 22. He, however, said that he will visit the temple along with his family after the consecration ceremony.
Another INDI bloc partner and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has also refused to go to Ayodhya on January 22. Instead, she has announced an inter-religious rally in Kolkata on the day of consecration ceremony.
The BJP has slammed the Opposition for not accepting the invitation and called INDIA parties “anti-Sanatana”.