NEW DELHI: Ending its ambivalence about the Ayodhya temple consecration, the Congress on Wednesday “respectfully declined” the invitation to attend the ceremony. Terming it a ‘political project’ of the BJP and RSS, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will not attend the consecration on January 22.
The three leaders had got the invitation last month, but they did not say whether they would attend the ceremony or not. “Inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain,” Ramesh said in a statement.
CPI(M) was the first party to decline the invite. Later, TMC, JD(U), RJD, and Shiv Sena (UBT) said they would not attend the event. Congress’s indecision had invited criticism from INDIA bloc partners as well as state units of the party. Sources said the party’s decision was after weighing in several factors, including the potential backlash if it boycotts the event. It finally decided to go with the majority view, said a leader.