As the general elections draw near, Rahul Gandhi is busy doing what he does best—spreading lies about Prime Minister Modi and his administration. In a video going viral on social media, the Congress prince is overheard telling the locals in Korba, Chhattisgarh that the Modi government invited high-profile industrialists like the Ambanis and Adanis, as well as celebrities like Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan to the Pran Pratishtha event, but failed to invite the country’s impoverished and unemployed citizens for the ceremony.
The Gandhi scion resumed his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Chhattisgarh after a two-day hiatus, which he started with the overly ambitious aim of reviving his party’s fortunes before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“During Ram Temple’s inauguration, I saw Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Adani, Ambani, and all businessmen attending the event but I didn’t notice any poor, farmer, labourer, unemployed, or ‘chai wala’ among them,” he said.
VIDEO | Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: Congress MP @RahulGandhi addresses a public gathering in Korba, Chhattisgarh.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 12, 2024
“During Ram Temple’s inauguration, I saw Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Adani, Ambani, and all businessmen attending the event but I didn’t notice any poor, farmer,… pic.twitter.com/wrIvjv9DXT
Although criticizing Prime Minister Modi and his administration is his favourite past time, even if it means lying blatantly, had the Gandhi scion done some homework, he would have known that people from all walks of life were invited to the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event.
On one side where several dignitaries and celebrities were invited, many people from humble backgrounds, including family members of several karsevaks, sadhus, labourers, sanitisation workers etc were also invited for the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event.
In fact, what’s even more interesting is that Bidula Bai, an 85-year-old ragpicker, and Santosh Devi, a health worker, who were amongst those invited to the Ram Mandir’s Pran Pratishtha event, are from Chhattisgarh, the place which Rahul Gandhi chose to disseminate this lie.
Bidula Bai Dewaar, 85, is a ragpicker from Chattisgarh’s Gariaband district. She had also received a formal invitation to the Ram Mandir’s inaugural ceremony.
In 2021, Dewaar contributed Rs 20 from her savings for the construction of Ram Temple. The day she made this contribution, she made Rs 40 by selling garbage and donated half of it to the temple fund.
Acknowledging her exceptional gesture, the VHP extended a special invitation for her to have the darshan of Ram Lalla. VHP state president Chandrashekhar Verma had personally visited her and offered the invitation. However, owing to health concerns, Dewar could not make it to the ceremony.
One such other person who was on the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha guest list was Santoshi Durga, a 36-year-old sweeper working in the health department, Santoshi Durga is a resident of Naharpur village of Kanker in Chhattisgarh. Ratan Singh Sindoor, her late father, was employed at the community health centre’s post-mortem house. She had helped her father in around 700 cases of postmortem.
Recognising her significant contributions to social work, Durga had been chosen for the divine darshan of Ram Lalla by the district executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Overjoyed to have received the invitation for the darshan of Ram Lalla, Durga said, “Even in my whole life, I never thought that I would be called from Ayodhya, but Lord Ram has called me by sending an invitation letter.”
Notably, Bidula Bai Dewaar and Santoshi Durga were among the many other ordinary people who had been invited to Ram Lalla’s homecoming. Dilip Valmiki, a retired sanitation supervisor of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, and his wife Manju, a former Bank of Baroda employee, were also extended the invitation to the ceremony.
The couple committed themselves to social work after retirement, concentrating on the Valmiki community through awareness initiatives. Their dedication was acknowledged by higher authorities, which led to their nomination as “yajmans” for Lord Ram’s consecration ceremony.
Expressing his gratitude Dilip Valmiki said, “After a few hours of online formalities, I received an entry pass and my name was announced as a “yajman”. The overwhelming feeling that I have is hard to describe.”
“I am on cloud nine as God has answered all my prayers. Nothing can be bigger than attending such a historic event as a “yajman”. It’s a larger-than-life experience for me,” he added.
Even though numerous media outlets wrote in-depth articles about the aforementioned invitees and many more ordinary citizens who received invitations to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony Rahul Gandhi persisted in spreading false information in his attempts to poison voters’ minds against the incumbent BJP government before the Lok Sabha elections. Nonetheless, anyone who is familiar with Congress’s previous shenanigans would not be surprised by the Congress MP’s current attempt to capitalize on the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony for the sake of disparaging the Modi administration.
It may be recalled how prior to the ceremony, the Congress claimed that all four Shankaracharyas – Shankaracharya Swami Shri Avimukteshwarananda Saraswati of Badrikashram Jyotirmath in Uttarakhand, Shankaracharya Swami Shri Nischalananda Saraswati of Purvaamnaya Govardhanmath in Puri, Shankaracharya Swami Shri Bharati Teerth Ji of Sringeri Mutt and Shankaracharya Shri Swami Sadanand Saraswati of Paschimannaya Dwarka Shardapeeth – are opposed to the way the ceremony is being held, and they will not attend the same. OpIndia then dispelled this lie by writing a detailed report on what the experts had to say about this.
Later, top spiritual leaders of Sanatan Hindu Dharma, Jagadguru Shankaracharya Dwarka SharadaPeetham and Sringeri Math also issued statements addressed to Lord Ram devotees regarding the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the idol of Lord Ram in Ayodhya on 22nd January. They denounced the fallacies disseminated in social media by vested interests and extended their firm support and belief in the temple. They had reacted to claims by Congress leaders and others that four Shankaracharyas in India including the Shankaracharya of Dwarka and Sringeri math have opposed the pran pratishtha ceremony and that they are not attending the event.
