The Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the Opposition Congress on Thursday for declining the invitation to attend the religious programme of Ram Temple’s consecration in Ayodhya on January 22.
Speaking about the Congress party’s decision, Union minister Giriraj Singh said that the grand old party lacked moral strength to visit Ayodhya and termed its leaders “seasonal Hindus”.
“These people are seasonal Hindus, when they feel they have to get votes, they try to become soft Hindus. No one in the Congress has gone to Ayodhya since Jawaharlal Nehru. It was the Congress party whose deeds kept the Ram temple issue pending in the court, hence they do not have the moral strength to go to Ayodhya,” the minister told a news agency.
Uttar Pradesh deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the Congress has once again proved they are against Lord Ram.
“The invitation was not sent by the government or the BJP. It was sent by Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Declining the invitation has only proved again that they are against Lord Ram. They had already called Lord Ram a fictional character,” Maurya said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress announced that its president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party’s Leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will not attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir.
The Congress also alleged that the government was inaugurating the “incomplete” temple for “electoral gain” in an apparent reference to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections
In a statement, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh sai, “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 and BJP event.”
Asserting that Lord Ram is worshipped by millions across the country, he said, “Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS and BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya.