BJP's "Ravana" Comparison After Congress Declines Ram Temple Invite

The BJP on Wednesday slammed Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for declining the invitation to the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying they have "lost their mind" as Ravana did in the "Treta Yug".

BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kohli told PTI that the Congress has officially said its senior leaders will not be there in Ayodhya for the January 22 ceremony.

This should not come as a surprise because over the last few decades, the Congress took no steps to see to it that there is a Ram temple in Ayodhya, he said. The Congress on Wednesday announced that Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi and its leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, have "respectfully declined" the invitation to attend the ceremony. The opposition party also alleged that the event has been made into a "political project" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for "electoral gain".

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari expressed surprise over the Ram temple trust extending invitations to "those who never wanted the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and even filed an affidavit in court calling Lord Ram an imaginary figure".

"Yet they have been invited. Despite this, they have lost their mind. I realise that Ravana had also lost his mind in the 'Treta Yug'," Manoj Tiwari said in a veiled reference to the Congress leaders.

"The 'Treta Yug' will start soon after the 'Kal Yug', according to scriptures. I feel that it (Treta Yug) has already begun in the time of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. It is the start of Ram Rajya," he told PTI.

The Ram Rajya of the "Treta Yug" is back in India under Prime Minister Modi and those who do not attend the consecration ceremony will repent, the BJP leader said.

Attacking the Congress, Nalin Kohli also said that the previous Congress-led UPA government had filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court to deny the existence of Lord Ram.

"They never wanted an early hearing on the issue. Now that a temple has come up there, the very fact that they are saying they won't be there, is part of what they have always believed. They didn't want a temple there," he added.

Nalin Kohli said the Congress' allegation that it is an event of the BJP and the RSS is just an excuse. In reality, this (consecration ceremony) does not fit with the Congress' own thinking, he said.

If it would have, they would have been there out of the affection for Lord Ram and share the excitement of millions of Indians, the BJP leader added.

On the opposition's charge that the BJP is using the ceremony in its bid to win the Lok Sabha polls, Manoj Tiwari said it can also use Lord Ram if that helps it in elections in any way. Sing a 'bhajan' (devotional song) in Hindi or in Italian, Manoj Tiwari quipped and asked "who has stopped Sonia ji?" BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill alleged that this is not a "coincidence" but a well-thought out plan by the opposition INDIA bloc to hurt the beliefs of Indians under a "conspiracy to insult them".

"First (M K) Stalin's DMK spoke of finishing Sanatan Dharma. Then Sharad Pawar's NCP declared Lord Ram a meat eater. Today, the Congress has declined the invitation to the 'Pran Pratishtha' (consecration ceremony)," Shergill was quoted saying in a statement issued by the BJP.

"We pray to Lord Ram to eliminate this politics of hatred of the INDI Alliance and forgive them," he said. But, 140 crore Indians will never forgive this "politics of hatred" by the Congress, the BJP leader said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)