Telangana AICC In-Charge: Temples are for faith, not politics, ahead of Pran Pratishtha ceremony

When questioned about attending the Ayodhya Ram Temple inauguration, the AICC in-charge of Telangana responded that she had no comments, as the party had already communicated its stance on the issue.

Hyderabad: Ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya’s Ram Temple on January 22, AICC in-charge of Telangana, Deepa Das Munshi, has said that a temple is a place of faith and not for politics.

On being asked about participation in the Ayodhya Ram Temple inauguration, the AICC in-charge of Telangana stated that she had nothing to say as the party had already conveyed their stand on the matter.

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“The decision has already been conveyed by the AICC so I have nothing to say beyond that,” said Deepa Das Munshi.

Further speaking about BJP targeting Congress for declining the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya, Deepa Das Munshi said, “Whoever will go to temple, it is on our faith. So we are with our faith. We don’t go to a temple for political reasons; we go to a temple for our faith. So we are very clear about this.” However, despite the senior party leaders declining the invite to Ram Mandir, some of the UP Congress leaders visited Ayodhya after the controversy over the decline of the invite.

Congress leaders and workers, including its Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai, arrived in Ayodhya on January 15 to take a holy dip in the Saryu River and pay obeisance at temples there.

Ajay Rai, along with party leaders Avinash Pandey, Deepender Hooda, and Akhilesh Pratap Singh, offered prayers at Ayodhya’s Hanuman Garhi temple.

“Lord Ram belongs to everyone. This is not my first visit to Ayodhya. Today we came here to seek the blessings of Lord Ram on the occasion of Makar Sankranti,” Congress MP Deepender Hooda said.

The BJP however hit out at Congress and accused it of having ‘the dual character’.

“I have no objection to anyone visiting Ayodhya Dham. People are seeing the dual character of Congress today. On one side they rejected the invitation and on the second side they have sent a delegation to the Ram mandir,” Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM and BJP leader KP Maurya said.

Notably, senior Congress leaders–Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury–declined the invitation to the grand event in Ayodhya, the party’s general secretary, Jairam Ramesh, said in a statement.

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

“Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS and 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 obviously been brought forward for electoral gain. While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgement and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS and BJP event,” the statement added.