On Monday (September 13), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker Manish Sisodia took to Twitter to inform that he will visit the Ram Lalla shrine in Ayodha today. The development comes ahead of the upcoming polls in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
In a tweet, Sisodia wrote, “I am going to offer my prayers to Ram Lalla today. In Ayodhya, Lord Shri Ram set such a standard for the happiness of the people that even today ‘Ram Raj’ is considered to be the highest inspiration of clean governance and administration. I request the Lord to always preserve the purity in our thoughts.”
Manish Sisodia and his remarks against Ram Mandir construction
Sisodia, who serves as the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, has transformed into a full-fledged ‘Ram Bhakt’ ahead of the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. In an exclusive interview with NDTV in December 2018, he had suggested forfeiting the construction of Ram Mandir and building a school at the site where Shri Ram was born. On being asked about his views on the Ram temple, he stated, “My opinion is that the Hindus and Muslims should mutually agree to build a university at the site.”
“This will ensure that the children of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Indians and foreigners can study there… ‘Ram Rajya’ will not come by building a Ram Mandir but only through education,” Sisodia had claimed in 2018. His arguments to not build the majestic Ram temple and replace it with schools/universities were then used by pseudo-seculars and the leftist bandwagon to undermine the civilisational history and culture of the Hindu community.
Hindus were demonised and made to feel guilty for fighting for their lost temple and supposedly being ‘averse’ to the need for education and healthcare facilities. However, ahead of the UP polls, Manish Sisodia has had a sudden change of heart. From wanting to replace Ram Mandir with a university to praying at Ram Lalla shrine (the site of the construction of the majestic temple), the Aam Aadmi Party has realised that it cannot afford to desert the Hindu vote.
On Tuesday (September 14), he will lead a ‘Tiranga Sankalp Yatra’ in Ayodhya to flag off Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh. Sisodia had earlier announced to counter BJP’s supposed ‘fake nationalism’ with his ‘Desh Bhakti curriculum.’ The Delhi Deputy CM had also vowed to introduce nationalism among the residents of UP, provide quality education and protect the vulnerable section of the society.
Arvind Kejriwal had turned into a ‘Ram Bhakt’ in March this year
Earlier in March this year, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal declared himself a devotee of Lord Hanuman. He also claimed that since Lord Hanuman is a devotee of Lord Ram, therefore he too is a devotee of Lord Ram. Kejriwal also vowed to take the elderly people from Delhi to Ayodhya for darshan after the Ram Mandir is constructed.
But Kejriwal, too, had undergone a ‘change of heart’ only recently. When leftist students at JNU had attacked ABVP students in January 2020 over semester form in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Kejriwal had shared an objectionable cartoon to depict how Lord Hanuman, of whom he is a devotee, ‘set fire’ to JNU as a distraction.
Ahead of the 2019 general elections, Kejriwal had shared an image where a man with a broom can be seen hitting the Swastika symbol, a symbol holy to Hindus, Buddhists and Jains.
