.Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday turned down the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, joining the list of Opposition leaders to have snubbed the temple invite.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday turned down the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, joining the list of Opposition leaders to have snubbed the temple invite.
However, Akhilesh did say that he will visit the temple with his family at a later date.Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday turned down the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, joining the list of Opposition leaders to have snubbed the temple invite. However, Akhilesh did say that he will visit the temple with his family at a later date.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and a host of Congress bigwigs -- national president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Sonia Gandhi and the party's Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury--have already turned down the invitation to the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony.
The SP chief and the former UP chief minister, on Friday, wrote to Champat Rai, the general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust entrusted with the construction of the Ram Temple, informing him of his decision to skip the event.
"Thank you for the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple and congratulations on its successful completion," read the letter written by the SP chief. "I will surely visit Ayodhya with my family after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony," he added.
Earlier, on Friday, Akhilesh said that Samajwadis "100 per cent" believe in the tradition of country and Sanatana, adding, "Can anyone ever be invited to God's abode? We visit temples impulsively, where there is an inner calling and an urge deep down." "We Samajwadi's 100 percent believe in our tradition and Sanatana. Today is the birth anniversary of Vivekananda. He had said that our society teaches tolerance. Those who do not trust the Constitution can never be a Sanatani. We are people who believe in Bhimrao Ambedkar," he said. "Jab Bhagwan bulayenge, Jab Shri Ram bulayenge hum jayenge... (When God calls, when Shri Ram calls, we will go)," he added.
Earlier this month, Kharge, Sonia and Adhir turned down the invitation to the grand Ram Temple opening on January 22, calling it a 'BJP-RSS' event. The opposition parties of the INDIA bloc have accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of "using" the Ram Temple for electoral gains in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
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