'Respectfully Declined Invitation': Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge Not To Attend Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony

Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party President Mallikarjun Kharge will not attend the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony scheduled on January 22, the Congress said on Wednesday. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is also going to skip the event.

The party said BJP and RSS has turned the inauguration into a political project to gain votes.

Inauguration of incomplete temple for electoral gains: Congress

"Last month, the Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury received an invitation to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya to be held on January 22nd, 2024," the party said in a statement.

"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 inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain. 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 party added.

Published on: Wednesday, January 10, 2024, 04:17 PM IST