INDIA leaders divided over attending Ram Temple event
SP leader Dimple Yadav said she would attend if invited, while Communist Party of India (Marxist) declined, saying religion was being used for political gain.
The opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh has left the opposition INDIA bloc parties divided over whether to attend the inauguration on January 22.
Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav on Tuesday announced she will attend the inauguration if invited, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declined the invitation, saying that religion was being used as an instrument for political gain.
Another INDIA ally, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), said it will take a call only after being invited, underlining that Thackarey had been to Ayodhya earlier. The Trinamool Congress hasn’t taken any decision and two Congress functionaries maintained that the party may decide at a later stage as to who might attend the event.
The issue has to be handled “cautiously”, a Congress functionary said. “We had respected the split verdict of the Supreme Court on the Ayodhya land dispute and said we favour the construction of a Ram temple. In this context, our stand has to be calibrated,” he said, declining being named. “If we boycott the inauguration ceremony, it might send a contradicting signal.”
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“Any decision of who will attend or if the Congress president will attend or not will be taken at a later stage,” an aide of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, requesting anonymity. “Nearly a month is left for the event.”
The Ram Temple issue came up during discussions at the fourth meeting of the INDIA parties on December 19. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin had cautioned the allies that the Bharatiya Janata Party will try to set a narrative to its advantage and the opposition should be able to counter it.
Yadav was the first INDIA ally to announce that she was ready to attend the inauguration. “If I get an invitation, I will definitely go. If I don’t get an invitation, I will go later,” she told the media.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leaders said that Thackeray has not yet got an invitation. “As of now, Shiv Sena (UBT) party president Uddhav Thackeray has not received any invitation for the inauguration of Ram Temple at Ayodhya. If Thackeray gets the formal invitation in coming days, he will take the decision on it. Besides that, in past Uddhav Thackeray have visited the Ayodhya on his own and we can go Ayodhya on our own in the future,” spokesperson Sachin Ahir said.
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Sena leader Sanjay Raut pointed to the link between Shiv Sainiks and the movement for building the temple. “Those who are asking what is the contribution of Uddhav Thackeray, say what is your contribution? When the Ayodhya movement was going on, those who consider themselves warriors today ran away from there and at that time Balasaheb Thackeray came forward and said I am proud of Shiv Sainiks who have done this work for the Ram Temple,” he told news agency ANI.
The CPI(M), another important constituent of the INDIA allies, however, clarified that it will not attend the event. “The CPI(M) general secretary, comrade Sitaram Yechury, has received an invitation to attend the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The CPI(M) policy has been to respect religious beliefs and safeguarding the right of every individual to pursue their belief,” its Politburo said in a statement. “It believes that religion is a personal choice not to be converted into an instrument for political gain. Therefore, we will not be attending the ceremony.”
“Our party will not attend the pran pratishtha (consecration of the deity) ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya,” party leader Brinda Karat said. “We respect religious beliefs but they are connecting a religious programme with politics. This is politicisation of a religious programme. This is not right.”
The Trinamool Congress is yet to take a call if West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee or party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee would attend the event or not. “As of now, there is no such plan,” a leader said, seeking anonymity.
