VHP on Monday dismissed as "absurd" Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's tweets attributing the coronavirus infection to various BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, to the proposed August 5 'bhoomi pujan' in Ayodhya on "an inauspicious occasion in violation of Sanatan Hindu dharma beliefs".
"Digvijaya Ji keeps on talking absurd (betuka)," said VHP national working president Alok Kumar referring to the senior Congress leader's tweets and adding he does not want to react to them.
"I also read in newspapers that even Sonia ji (Congress president Sonia Gandhi) was hospitalised. So, I do not feel the need of responding to his allegations," Kumar added.
Earlier on Monday, Singh tweeted in Hindi, "The result of ignoring the Sanatan Hindu Dharma's beliefs -- all Ram temple priests found corona positive, UP Minister Kamal Rani Varun dead, UP BJP chief found corona positive, Union Home Minister Amit Shah too found corona positive and admitted to a hospital." In his two-part tweets, Singh also counted Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka chief ministers and MP BJP chief as having been infected with Coronavirus as a result of the violation of Sanatan Hindu Dharmas' norms.
In yet another tweet, Singh also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the 'bhoomi pujan' on the alleged inauspicious occasion of August 5.
The VHP chief also asserted that only 200 people have been invited for the August 5 event in Ayodhya as per the seating capacity at the Ram Janmabhoomi site to ensure that no Tablighi Jamaat episode is replicated.
"To ensure that no Tablighi Jamaat episode is replicated in Ayodhya, we asked the government and the Health Department how many people can be accommodated with social distancing. The government said 200, of which 50 people will be from the government," said Kumar when asked about the number of people invited in Ayodhya.
"We have asked our workers not to come to Ayodhya. There should be no crowding in Ayodhya and no stress on public health," the VHP chief added.
Responding to a tweet by BJP leader Uma Bharti that she would visit Ayodhya and have a glimpse of Ram Lalla after the Prime Minister and others leave, Kumar said, "To Umaji, I would say, you come. We have made arrangements for social distancing. We are concerned about the health of the Prime Minister and Umaji." On complaints by families of some 'kar sevaks' that they have not been invited for the 'bhoomi pujan', Kumar said, "In my entire life, I have not made so many people upset as I hurt them while making the list of 150 invitees." "Some of the family members of some 'kar sevaks' have been invited as representatives. Had we called family members of all 'kar sevaks', the number would have far exceeded 150. We have not forgotten them or left them," said Kumar.
