The former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, and the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu, attended the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, making them the rare Opposition, non-BJP faces to make it to the event.
Mr. Gowda, whose Janata Dal (Secular) is now in alliance in with the BJP in Karnataka in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls later in the year, was accompanied by his son and former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy at the event. Speaking after the ceremony, Mr. Kumaraswamy said he considered himself “very lucky” to have witnessed the event. “In our life this is a historic time. We require a peaceful society with the blessings of Lord Ram. We pray for the country’s progress with the blessings of Lord Ram,” he said.
Mr. Naidu, who was accompanied by NDA ally Pawan Kalyan of the Janasena Party, was another surprise guest, and he too said this was a “historic occasion” which he was glad to witness.
