The Congress’ public articulation on the invitation to attend the pran pratistha (consecration ceremony) of Lord Ram’s idol at the newly built temple in Ayodhya nearly 12 days before the event was as much meant to frame a position for its own leaders as it was to convey its decision.
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge, chairperson of the Parliamentary party, Sonia Gandhi, and the party‘s leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, were among those invited to the grand ceremony on January 22.
While declining the invitation through a statement, issued by communication chief Jairam Ramesh, the party made the following points: the temple project was a long-standing “political project” of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; an “incomplete” temple is being inaugurated for electoral gains; Lord Ram was worshipped by millions but religion was a personal matter.
