Ram Mandir consecration: Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh on Saturday received the invitation to attend the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22. However, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister turned down the invitation saying that he would visit the temple, along with his family, after the inauguration event.
By declining the invitation, Yadav had joined the list of Opposition leaders who have snubbed the temple invite.
'Will visit after Pran Pratishtha ceremony'
Taking to X, Akhilesh Yadav said that he received the invitation and also assured that he would come to the Ram Temple as a visitor after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony.
In a letter to Ram Janmabhoomi Theerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai, the Samajwadi Party chief thanked him for the invitation received on Saturday morning. “Thank you for the affectionate invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, Ayodhya, and heartfelt wishes for the successful completion of the ceremony. We will surely visit with family as devotees after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony,” the SP leader said in a letter to the temple trust.
Akhilesh Yadav's response came amidst a political controversy surrounding the participation of different political parties in the ceremony. On Friday, Yadav accused the BJP of demeaning opposition parties under the guise of Lord Ram.
Congress will not attend January 22 ceremony
The Congress has announced that it will not be attending the January 22 ceremony, alleging that the event has been turned into a political one rather than a religious one. "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. 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 in its statement said.
Congress and SP are partners in the INDIA bloc, formed to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP aims to project the Ram Mandir as a key election issue.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders have been attacking the parties declining Ram temple invite by labelling them as "anti-Ram" parties.
