On a day when the rituals for Pre-Pran Pratishtha at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya commenced, another Congress leader and Karnataka Minister mocked the Ram Lalla idol and devotees by comparing the Ram Lalla idol to ‘dolls in a tent’.
On 16th January, while addressing an event in Bengaluru, Karnataka’s Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna alleged that the Bhartiya Janata Party is cheating people in the name of Lord Ram claiming that Ram Lalla idol was like ‘two dolls in a tent’.
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Cong MLA K.N Rajanna (@KNRajanna_Off) says, 'BJP is cheating the public; they have kept 2 idols in a tent and called it Ram'
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According to the Congress leader, he visited Ayodhya when the Babri mosque was demolished in 1991. The Hindus had placed “a doll in a tent” and called it Ram. The minister went further and drew a parallel with other Ram temples, he claimed that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya had no spiritual vibration as one feels at a holy place.
Rajanna said, “There are Ram Mandirs with a history of thousands of years back home. These are holy places. Now BJP is building temples for election. BJP is cheating people.”
“I went there when Babri masjid was demolished, they kept two dolls in a tent and called it Ram. Back home when we go to Ram temple there’s a vibration that one can feel. In Ayodhya I felt nothing, it was like dolls in touring talkies,” he was quoted saying by Republic TV.
The Central leadership of the Congress party has altogether boycotted the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha with Rahul Gandhi mocking the consecration ceremony as a ‘Modi Ka Function’.
In Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had stated that he would visit the temple after 22nd January. On 31st December, Siddaramaiah had said that his government and his party are in full support of Ram Mandir. However, his Ministers had been repeatedly giving controversial remarks.
On 31st December, Congress leader and Karnataka Planning and Statistics Minister, Dasharathaiah Sudhakar claimed that the BJP government was using a similar strategy and exploiting the Ram Mandir as it used Pulwama in previous Lok Sabha elections.
Sudhakar had said, “The BJP government used the Pulwama terror attack to secure votes in the last Lok Sabha elections, and this time, they are holding Lord Ram’s photo now.”
While speaking to media personnel in Chitradurga, he added, “The inauguration of Ayodhya Ram Mandir is a stunt. People are not fools. We have been fooled twice. I am confident that we won’t be fooled for the third time.”
Further, on 2nd January, Congress leader and former Karnataka minister, H Anjaneya, stoked a major controversy, equating Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with Lord Ram. According to the Congress leader, Ayodhya’s Ram is BJP’s Ram, while their Ram is CM Siddaramaiah.
Speaking to reporters, Anjaneya had said, “He (Siddaramaiah) is our Ram. Why should he visit Ayodhya for the consecration event? He could pay obeisance at his native village which has a Ram temple.”
Similarly, several leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc had given disparaging remarks against Ram Mandir with RJD leaders claiming that temples mean a path of Mental slavery.
On 5th January (Friday), Janata Dal (United) MP Kaushalendra Kumar joined leaders of the I.N.D.I. Alliance in making disparaging remarks over the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony. Mocking the invites extended for the inauguration ceremony, the JDU MP stirred controversy by arguing against the need to send invites for the ceremony.
Speaking on a media query on invitations being extended to attend the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of Ram Mandir, JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar said, “Kisi ke bete ka vivah hai, jo nauta de rahe hai. What is the need for this invitation? Kya kissi ke pita ka shraadh hai? Hume nauta nahi diya hai to kya hum Ayodhya nahi jayenge.”
Before the announcement of dates for Ram Mandir’s inauguration, the I.N.D.I. alliance leaders including Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had launched a tirade against Sanatan Dharma on one pretext or the other likening the faith of over 100 Hindu believers with diseases.
