On Monday (19th February), Congress scion Rahul Gandhi attempted to spread fake information as he attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre, and claimed that the Indian President, Droupadi Murmu was deliberately not invited to the Ram temple consecration ceremony held in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, on 22nd January. Rahul Gandhi was addressing a public gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi during his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ on Monday, February 19.
Attacking the BJP-led central government, Rahul Gandhi said that President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to the mega event because she is an ‘Adivasi’ (member of a tribal community).
“Did you see the Ram Mandir event? It was held with great fanfare. But did you see any Dalit faces? Our President is an Adivasi, so she wasn’t allowed to attend the event. Did you see any farmers or labourers during the event? No backward class faces were anywhere seen during the event. But you must have seen Adani, Ambani, and their families. All the businessmen were there. Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, and Narendra Modi were there,” he said.
On 22nd January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the ‘Pran Pratishtha‘ ceremony for Shri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya’s historic temple, which was led by a group of priests. It was attended by people from all walks of life. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi said, “This is their India. This is not yours. All you do is chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, while all they do is have helicopter rides and make money.”
In this case, Rahul Gandhi has spread fake news against the ruling government by saying that the party deliberately did not invite President Murmu given her tribal background.
Apart from Rahul Gandhi, several social media posts also claimed that President Murmu was deliberately not invited by the Centre for the inauguration of Ram Mandir given her tribal background. The posts claimed that President Murmu had been a victim of casteism.
The truth is that President Murmu was formally invited by a delegation representing the Ram Temple Trust to attend the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. The invitation was extended on 12th January by a delegation comprising Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) working president Alok Kumar, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Ram Lal, and Ram Mandir construction committee chairperson Nripendra Mishra.
आज भारत की महामहिम राष्ट्रपति आदरणीया श्रीमती द्रौपदी मुर्मू जी को 22 जनवरी को श्री राम मंदिर की प्राण प्रतिष्ठा का निमंत्रण सौंपा। उन्होंने इस पर अत्यंत हर्ष व्यक्त किया तथा कहा कि अयोध्या आने व दर्शन करने का शीघ्र समय तय करेंगी।
— विनोद बंसल Vinod Bansal (@vinod_bansal) January 12, 2024
इस अवसर पर राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ के अखिल… pic.twitter.com/ceO6Gwuvbc
However, President Murmu had said that she would soon decide the time to visit Ayodhya. In fact, on 21st January, the President hailed the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony and sent heartfelt wishes to the Prime Minister for making the temple appear into reality.
“The nationwide celebratory atmosphere around the inauguration of the grand temple of Prabhu Shri Ram at Ayodhya Dham is an uninhibited expression of the eternal soul of India. We all are fortunate to witness the commencement of a new cycle in resurgence of our nation,” President Murmu was quoted as saying.
The President also appreciated ‘Maa Shabri’s’ reference made by PM Modi in his address before the inauguration of the Ram Mandir.
Notably, Rahul Gandhi had earlier spread fake news and lies against the Modi government on international platforms. While delivering a lecture to the MBA students of Cambridge University last year, Rahul Gandhi spoke on topics like the Hathras case, the Pulwama attack, and the Pegasus row to peddle his anti-India propaganda. He launched one of his usual attacks on the Modi government and said that Modi government was undermining the democracy of India. While delivering a presentation at Cambridge University, Rahul Gandhi lied that the Israeli spyware Pegasus was being used to monitor his phone.
Rahul Gandhi, who walks with dozens of commandoes, party leaders, and supporters surrounding him, claimed that he walked very safely in Kashmir, even through the stretch in Pulwama where a “car bomb” killed 40 soldiers, and he saw two “militants” there. He went ahead to claim that the militants saw him but could not harm him, because he was promoting the idea of non-violence and peace.
The Congress scion even compared his Bharat Jodo Yatra to Gandhi’s Dandi March, drawing equivalence with the freedom struggle against the British, painting himself as carrying the legacy of Mohandas Gandhi (they are not related), of fighting against tyranny.
This is not the first lie Rahul Gandhi has spread during his latest yatra. Recently, he visited Meghalaya and defamed the center for the ‘poor infrastructure’ in the state. He said that the state was not benefiting from the Centre’s policies due to its poor infrastructure. However, he was caught spreading lies as he claimed that the infrastructural development had not reached the state to make it economically and socially stable. The report regarding the same can be read here.
