As the day of the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya draws closer, it is widely anticipated that Congress’ Sonia Gandhi might attend the event scheduled to take place on 22nd January. The information was obtained by Congress sources quoted by NDTV.
“The decision will be taken and communicated at the appropriate time,” said Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh.
As per the reports, Gandhi, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and the party’s Lok Sabha leader, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, had been invited to the event, which has become the focal point of the country’s political discourse in the run-up to a general election in less than four months.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi have received an invitation to attend the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple on 22nd January 2024 in Ayodhya. The decision will be taken and communicated at the appropriate time:… pic.twitter.com/Medq5JWYPb
— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2023
The Congress’ Digvijaya Singh had previously stated that either Gandhi – who he described as “very positive on this” – or a delegation would attend the ceremony, which will be presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress party is said to have made its decision on this politically sensitive issue after extensive discussions with its allies, including those in the I.N.D.I. Alliance opposition bloc, especially the Indian Union Muslim League.
The Congress is said to have justified its choice as a necessary tightrope walk ahead of the election. The Congress believed that not attending the Ram Temple event would give the BJP a lethal weapon that could be used to attack Gandhi’s party and, by extension, its I.N.D.I Alliance ally before the election.
Sonia Gandhi May Attend Ram Temple Event, But Final Decision Later: Sources – @tanishqq9 with more on this pic.twitter.com/U3igdWRkPN
— NDTV (@ndtv) December 29, 2023
The Congress party has also distanced itself from the comments of Sam Pitroda, who had said that too much importance is being given to religion through the Ram Mandir and that democracy is being undermined. Jairam Ramesh said that Sam Pitroda’s statement is not an official statement of Congress, he doesn’t speak on behalf of the Congress party.
Opposition parties turning down invitation to consecration ceremony
Earlier, several opposition political parties have turned down the invitation to attend the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony at Ayodhya. On 27th December, NCP chief Sharad Pawar stated that he was not invited to the inauguration ceremony but would not go even if he were invited to the event.
The CPIM and CPI also made their positions clear; earlier this week, Brinda Karat stated that her party would not participate in what she described as “using religion as a political weapon.” “No, we will not go. We respect the religious beliefs… but they are connecting a religious program with politics… it is not right,” she said.
Also, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee stated that she would not attend the inauguration ceremony. “There is no question of Mamata Banerjee or any other representative of the TMC attending the Ram Mandir inauguration at Ayodhya next month. We don’t believe in mixing politics with religion,” a senior party leader was quoted as saying.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury further turned down an invitation to attend the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) called the ceremony a private event by BJP and said that would visit the Ram Mandir after the BJP’s event is over.
“This is all politics, who wants to attend an event by the BJP? This is not a national event. This is BJP’s program, this is BJP’s rally. ‘Usme pavitrata kahan hai?’…We will visit (Ayodhya) after BJP’s program is over,” Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut said.
Congress leaders mocked Ram Mandir, insulted Lord Rama
It is to be recalled how Congress leaders and its allies have refused to believe in the existence of Lord Rama and mocked the construction of the Ram temple. Recently, DMK leader TKS Elangovan described Lord Rama’s birth as ‘mythology’ and alleged that the BJP was trying to replace history with mythology.
“They have demolished history and replaced it with mythology. Any country should be proud of its history, it should know the history. Ram’s birth is mythology, it is a story from Ramayana. It is literature. They want to replace history with mythology. That is what the BJP is trying to do. With these people in power, what can we expect?… He wants to make use of it as a political tool. He is not interested in Ram. BJP does not consider Ram as an important thing but their political gain becomes important so they are making use of Ram for their political gains,” the leader was quoted as saying.
Also, in June 2023, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘mentor’ Sam Pitroda mocked the Hindu deities while accusing the BJP of focusing only on religious matters. “We have a problem with unemployment, inflation, education, health. No one talks about these things. But everyone talks about Ram, Hanuman, mandir,” he had said during an event hosted by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The video of the incident had massively gone viral over the internet then.
Sam Pitroda insulting Ram Mandir and Hinduism at Rahul Gandhi's US event.
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) June 5, 2023
Rahul kept silent. pic.twitter.com/uw7QwZWEUp
Further, Kapil Sibal who was earlier a member of Congress had appeared for the Sunni Waqf Board and Babri Masjid Action Committee in the Supreme Court to term the case as a ‘trap’ laid by the BJP. “This judgment is going to have huge political ramifications. A party is pushing its manifesto. The court should not fall into a trap. This is nothing but a trap,” he had said in the year 2017. Sibal was then slammed by the netizens for the choice of his clients and the stance taken by him.
Sibal had been accusing the BJP of using the Ram Mandir issue for its political gains. He recently reiterated his stance saying that ‘no one becomes Ram by building Ram Mandir. People must learn to walk on the path of Ram.”
To the BJP
— Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) October 25, 2023
How many times will you use Lord Ram for political gain ?
Why don’t you embrace the virtues of Lord Ram :
His : valor, chivalry, loyalty, compassion, love, obedience, courage, and equipoise
Your governance does not display any of these virtues !
In the year 2018, Congress leader P Chidambaram mocked the idea of a Ram temple in Ayodhya and said that BJP was only focusing on building temples and giant statues. “At the beginning of five years, the promise is for Development, Jobs, and Money in every citizen’s bank account. Nothing was achieved, but at the end of five years, the new promise was for grand temples, giant statues, and doles,” he was quoted as saying. The BJP then slammed the leader for playing with the sentiments of Hindus.
As if denying the reality of Lord Ram wasn’t enough, the grand old party of India in 2022 came up with fresh ways to ridicule Hinduism. The leaders compared Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to Lord Rama as the former embarked on his political stunt called ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
It's a coincidence that Rahul Gandhi, Lord Ram's names begin with R: Congress' Nana Patole
— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) October 18, 2022
Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/sGuyRWOIJd#Nanapatole #RahulGandhi #Congress pic.twitter.com/COK07YMFjL
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole in a statement compared Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi to the Hindu Lord Ram saying that it is a coincidence that the names of both begin with “R”. “Even Lord Sri Ram walked (PadaYatra) from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and even Shankaracharya walked the same way, and so is Rahul Gandhi doing in the form of padayatra,” Patole added.
Nana Patole’s remark came after Rajasthan Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said that Rahul Gandhi walked more than Lord Ram walked from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka. “Rahul Gandhi’s padayatra will be historic. Lord Ram too had gone from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka on foot. Rahul Gandhi is walking even more than that, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir,” Meena had said.
#WATCH | Dausa: Rajasthan Minister Parsadi Lal Meena says, "Rahul Gandhi's padayatra will be historic. Lord Ram too had gone from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka on foot. Rahul Gandhi is walking even more than that, from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir…." (17.10.2022) pic.twitter.com/LPswB0Wh8e
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) October 18, 2022
Further, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President K Sudhakaran also ridiculed Bhagwan Sri Ram, Sri Lakshman, and Sita Mata by distorting Ramayana. He stated in a recent video interview with The New Indian Express (TNIE) that while returning from Lanka on the Pushpaka Vimanam, after defeating Ravana, Lakshman briefly entertained the thought of pushing his brother, Lord Ram, into the sea and go away with his wife Sita.
K Sudhakaran made these bizarre comments while stating that there are significant distinctions between lawmakers from Kerala’s northern and southern regions.
Congress denied the existence of Lord Rama
In 2020, ahead of Ayodhya Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan on August 5, Zee News conducted a discussion on Ayodhya and Ram Mandir. In a shocking display of ignorance, Congress leader Kumar Ketkar denied the historical existence of Shri Ram and cast aspersions about the Hindu God being a creation of literature.
In September 2007, the Central government run by Congress-led UPA 1 had said that there is no historical proof of Lord Ram’s existence.
An affidavit filed by the Congress-led government read, “Valmiki Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas admittedly form an important part of ancient Indian literature, but these cannot be said to be historical records to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters and occurrences of events depicted therein.” The affidavit was filed to register the UPA government’s opposition to the demand to scrap the Sethusamudram project as it would damage the Ram Setu.
Recently, Sam Pitroda, Indian Overseas Chairman of Congress again made controversial remarks against Hinduism and Lord Rama. He said that too much importance was being given to religion through the Ram Mandir and that democracy was being undermined.
#WATCH | On Ram Temple, Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress, Sam Pitroda says, "I'm worried about it because too much importance is given to religion. I see that democracy is being undermined. When the Prime Minister of a country for 10 years does not give a press conference.… pic.twitter.com/765aIzLSzt
— ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2023
Sam Pitroda added, “So there are signals I’m getting which says we are in the wrong direction. When a nation is involved in Ram Temple, that bothers me. To me, religion is a personal thing. Don’t confuse it with the national agenda. The national agenda should focus on education, employment, growth, economy, inflation, health, environment, and pollution. Nobody talks about that.”
It is important to note that the Congress party has not taken any firm decision on attending the event given its earlier ‘disbelief’ in the existence of Lord Rama. The party has time and again raised questions over the construction of Ram Mandir and is now probably thinking of attending the event to allegedly please the Hindu voters ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The party has anyway stated that the final decision will be taken at the appropriate time.
Preparations for Ram Mandir’s inauguration
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 organizations. 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.
