BJP rushing into Ram Temple inauguration for political gain, claims Cong leader Chennithala

The Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are making an event of the temple inauguration for political gain.

The Shankaracharyas have said it is not appropriate to conduct the idol consecration ceremony in a half-built temple but the BJP is hurrying with the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya for political gain, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala claimed on Thursday.

The 'pran pratishta' of the Ram Temple will be held on January 22, with several dignitaries led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to take part. However, some spiritual leaders have said the ceremony should wait till the temple construction is completed.

Chennithala, the All India Congress Committee's Maharashtra in charge, was speaking to reporters here after attending a review meeting of the party in connection with the Lok Sabha polls, which will take place in the first half of this year.

''The Shankaracharya has publicly said the temple is still half-built and it is not appropriate to conduct the pran pratishtha in a half-built temple, but the BJP is in a hurry and the inauguration of the Ram temple is being organized for benefits in the upcoming polls,'' he said.

The Congress is not against the Ram Temple as everyone has religious freedom, he added.

Many Congress leaders have visited Ayodhya, including the party's Uttar Pradesh in charge Avinash Pandey, who was there on Makar Sankranti and took darshan of 'Ram Lalla', Chennithala pointed out.

''We are not opposing anyone from going to Ayodhya. The Bharatiya Janata Party and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi are making an event of the temple inauguration for political gain. This is wrong and people know it,'' the MLA from Haripad in Kerala said.

Speaking on the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is leading from Manipur to Mumbai, he said it was receiving huge public support.

It is not an election yatra but a move to bring justice to the country's citizens, Chennithala asserted.

Rahul Gandhi is working to connect India through the yatra, he added.

Responding to queries related to Maharashtra politics, he said the Congress in the state was fully competent and no one would leave it.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is misleading the public by spreading rumours (of leaders switching sides), he said, adding that former chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde as well as state working president and MLA Praniti Shinde have already explained their stand.

Organizational preparations were reviewed in the departmental meeting, along with the programme given by the State Congress Committee to the district-level panels two months ago, he said.

A meeting was held here during the day and another will be held in Latur on January 29 for the party's Marathwada division, Chennithala said.

The meeting, which was attended by Chenithalla, was chaired by state unit chief Nana Patole.

Among those who took part were Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, former CM and Congress Working Committee member Ashok Chavan, former CM Prithviraj Chavan, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar as well as state working president Naseem Khan.