After the Congress party denied an invitation to the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on 22nd January, citing it as a BJP-RSS event, a minister in the Congress government of Himachal Pradesh indicated that he would attend the Pran Pratishtha event and fulfil his ‘putra Dharam’.
Vikramaditya Singh, minister of public works in the Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government, stated that attending the consecration event is his moral obligation. Vikramaditya Singh hailed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for inviting him to the ceremony, saying it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I am blessed to be one of the few people in Himachal who have received an invitation for ‘Pran Pratishtha’. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I want to thank Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad for giving me and my family a chance to be a part of the historic moment in Ayodhya,” said Vikramaditya Singh.
Vikramaditya Singh stated that he will be attending the ‘Pran Prathistha’ event at Ram Mandir not as a politician, but as the late Virbhadra Singh’s son, calling his father a “devout follower of Lord Ram”. “It is my moral responsibility as his son to attend. How can I refuse this putra-dharam (son’s duty)?” questioned Vikramaditya.
However, while exclusively talking to the Indian Express, he said that he is a dedicated Congress worker who is loyal to its ideology. “I want to clarify, that I oppose the RSS-VHP, BJP’s ideology of Hindu Rashtra, and their polarization policies. I am a dedicated Congress worker loyal to its ideology,” he was quoted as saying.
The Congress party has publicly denied an invitation to Ram Mandir’s pran prathistha function, referring to it as a BJP-RSS event. The Ram Mandir Trust has invited Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC President Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and other opposition leaders.
“Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain,” read a statement from senior party leader Jairam Ramesh.
“While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honoring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event,” he added.
