Amidst indecision within the party over accepting the invitation extended to its top leaders to attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Congress on Friday criticised the BJP alleging that the saffron party was turning the religious event into a party programme.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal said that senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, had been invited to the consecration ceremony, and added that they would decide at an “appropriate time” whether to attend it.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Venugopal said the senior leaders had received personal invitations for the January 22 function. “They will take a stand on their own. It’s not a matter in which we have to express our opinion in public. They will take a stand when the time comes,” Mr. Venugopal said.
Clear stand
He noted that the Congress party had a clear stand on such matters and it functioned accordingly. “We will express our stand after discussing in our party forums and take a decision,” he added.
Mr. Venugopal criticised the BJP government, asking “whether it was right to turn such an event into a function of a party or a government”.
Besides Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Kharge, the party’s leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has also been invited.
The Ram temple in Ayodhya is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and more than 6,000 people are expected to attend the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony.
