Ram Mandir: What's INDIA bloc leaders doing amid consecration ceremony in Ayodhya?
INDIA bloc leaders' gathering (File photo)
As the BJP makes a grand spectacle of the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, the opposition parties, especially in the INDIA bloc are marking the monumental day in a significantly different way.
Congress, one of the leading parties of the bloc, is currently focused on its former president Rahul Gandhi's "Bharat Jodo NyayYatra",having declined the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony.
Congress, earlier this month, had refused to be part of the ceremony stating BJP had politicised the religious ceremony.
"While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring 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," the statement issued by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
The Gandhi scion is in Nagaon district of Assam where he is scheduled to pay a visit to theBatadrava Than/Sattra (monastery) in Nagaon. However,Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi on Sunday said the management at the monastery had "forbidden" Gandhi from visiting the shrine.
On Sunday (Jan 21), several BJP leaders shared a video of Gandhi seemingly losing his cool at people who raised "Jai Shree Ram" chants during his roadshow in Assam.
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Watch |Ayodhya Ram Mandir Inauguration: Lord Ram devotees celebrate around the world
CPM, TMC, AAP and other parties
CPM, led by Sitram Yechury preferred to remember Vladimir Lenin on his death anniversary on the eve of the Ram Mandir ceremony as its leaders maintained distance from the Hindu event.
The CPM was the first in the INDIA bloc to decline the invitation, with Congress following the suit.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav also declined the invitation saying he will visit the temple with his family later.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), known for its soft Hindutva card every now and then, said it would organise "Shobha Yatras" across Delhi on Monday (Jan 22). Additionally, the party will organise community kitchens but none of its big leaders such as Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann or Raghav Chaddha will attend the ceremony in Ayodhya.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) boss and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be visiting theKalighat temple in Kolkata instead of Ayodhya. As for Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction in Maharashtra, the party has also distanced itself from the event. Uddhav will be travelling to Kalaram temple in Nashik to pay his respects there.
The Janata Dal (United), meanwhile, is organising a three-day event from January 22 to 24 to mark the birth anniversary of socialist icon Karpoori Thakur.
(With inputs from agencies)