Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has reportedly chosen not to attend the Pran Pratishtha or consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla. The ceremony is scheduled for 22nd January of next year in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. His counterpart in the Communist Party of India, D Raja, who was also invited for the momentous occasion is likely to give it a skip as well.
The invitations were extended by Nripendra Misra, who is the chairman of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge, former party president and Lok Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi and leader of the party in the lower house Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have also been invited to the auspicious program.
Former prime ministers Dr Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda have also been sent an invite. The former prime minister’s staff denied Nipendra Misra’s request for a meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh because of his fragile health condition. Former Presidents Pratibha Patil, Ram Nath Kovind and the leaders of all political parties have also been invited to this historic function.
According to sources, invitations have also been extended to Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.
Extensive preparations are in place in Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony which is expected to draw 8,000 people. Speakers at the event include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat.
A significant number of people involved in the construction of the temple, including S N Subrahmanyan of the L&T Group and Natarajan Chandrasekaran of the Tata Group have also been invited by the trust. Despite the extensive preparations for the VVIP guests, Champat Rai, the general secretary of the Trust has been recommending pilgrims to pray at the closest temple rather than in Ayodhya on 22nd January in order to avoid overcrowding.
Attendees include the spiritual leaders of important temples like Kashi Vishwanath and Vaishno Devi, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, as well as representatives of constitutional and religious organisations. Actors like Rajnikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Dipika Chikhlia and Arun Govil, film directors like Madhur Bhandarkar and businesspeople like Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, along with renowned painter Vasudev Kamat and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Director Nilesh Desai are also invited.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad also reached out to veteran Bharatiya Janta Party leaders like Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi for the event.
