Ram Temple inauguration: VHP hits back at Congress for declining invitation

After Congress' stalwart leaders including Sonia Gandhi declined the invitation to attend the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony in the north Indian city of Ayodhya on January 22, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the organisation that was at the forefront of the popular movement to build the temple, has reacted.

Speaking to WION, VHP International Joint General Secretary Surendra Kumar Jain said, "We know the anti-Ram temple history of Congress. Despite that, we kept our hearts big and invited India's second largest and oldest political party and its prominent leaders for atonement for their anti-temple work... to seek the blessings of Ram Lalla. But it feels that Congress could not get its good fortune."

"I think the time has not come for the Congress party to be ready to make amends for their mistakes and start a new beginning. They know very well that Indians will not forgive this and will not accept it. They are not coming, so this is their misfortune. We have done our job."

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This comes after in its official release, the Congress confirmed that invitations were extended to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and Congress' leader of opposition in the lower house of Parliament, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

"Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya," the release read while rejecting the invitation.

Row over inauguration dates

The release further pointed out that the inauguration of the “incomplete” temple is a strategy to appease voters and make gains in the upcoming elections.

Speaking to WION over Congress' issue with the date of the inauguration, former Member of the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Udit Raj said, "the consecration of the Ram temple is a political event and not a religious one. The temple should have been inaugurated on Ram Navmi. What was the urgency? It is a BJP and RSS event. Their priority is only to get the vote in the guise of a ceremony."

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Rama Navami is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Ram and will fall on April 17, 2024.

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Jairam Ramesh, General Secretary (Communications), Indian National Congress, in the statement said that "while abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgement and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly anRSS/BJPevent."