Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge, former party president and Lok Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi and leader of the party in the lower house Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have been extended invitations for the 22nd January consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya. They have each received an invitation separately. However, the three are unlikely to attend the landmark event, based on sources. Interestingly, Wayanad Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have not been invited yet.
Former prime ministers Dr Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda have also been invited. The invitations are currently being sent out and more opposition figures will receive them in the next few days. Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were reportedly invited to the ceremony by Nripendra Misra, Chairman of the Ram Mandir Construction Committee and an ex-officio member of the Trust as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Akhil Bharatiya Sampark Pramukh Ram Lal and Vishva Hindu Parishad International Working President Alok Kumar.
According to accounts, Nipendra Misra requested a meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh, but the former prime minister’s staff turned him down citing the former PM’s precarious health. Heads of all political parties have been invited along with former President Pratibha Patil for the auspicious program. Governors and chief ministers are not invited to the inauguration ceremony. However, presidents of all national political parties have been invited and many chief ministers are also the supremos of their parties.
Furthermore, the group met with former President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and invited them. According to sources, invitations have been extended to Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and his Communist Party of India colleague D Raja.
As per reports, after the consecration celebration, each state would receive a set number of days to visit the temple and special trains could be arranged. Specific arrangements would be made for their reception and the chief ministers would also be asked to join the devotees from their respective states.
Large-scale preparations are underway in Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony, which will feature speeches by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an estimated 8,000 attendees. The guest list for the ceremony has been “carefully crafted,” as per Champat Rai, Secretary of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, who made this statement on 18th December. A significant number of labourers 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.
VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal revealed, “Invitations have been sent to chiefs of all national political parties and former prime ministers of the country. Those who gave us time were given invitations personally, others have been sent the invitations through post. VHP has always maintained that whoever has the belief in Shri Ram and takes pride in the cultural heritage of the country is welcome for a darshan.”
According to a top VHP leader, there was no truth to the rumours that opposition politicians would not be invited to the sacred occasion since it was always the intention to invite every major political figure. He added, “Of course, everybody cannot be called since there is a logistical issue with how much crowd can gather for the event. That is why party presidents are being called. But all are welcome to visit Ayodhya after the ceremony.”
The Trust conveyed that invitations have been sent to all notable people who have contributed to the honour of the nation in any field as well as to saints who are highly respected in different traditions. A Tent City with six tube wells, six kitchen houses and a ten-bed hospital has been erected at the new Teerthakshetrapuram (Bag Bijaisi). The hospital has an agreement with over 150 physicians nationwide to use their services on a rotating basis. The Trust mentioned that around 4,000 saints from various sects have been invited to take part in the event.
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 organisations. 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 VHP also reached out to veteran BJP leaders like Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi who might not be able to attend owing to their health issues.
