The Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja said on Friday that his party will not participate in Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya on January 22, stating that "it is a state-sponsored political event being organised by the BJP and RSS combine for electoral considerations" ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to ANI, D Raja, said, "Our party will not participate in the Pran Pratishtha ceremony. It is a state-sponsored political event organized by the BJP and RSS combined. It is known to the whole world and all countries. The BJP and RSS have combined, making it a political event for their electoral gains."
"The Constitution makes it clear that the Indian state should remain a secular democratic state. The Indian state should be neutral towards all religions. Indirectly, it should not take steps to provide de facto official religious status to any particular religion. But here, what we are witnessing is the PM is going and along with him, there will be RSS's chief participating in that event," he added
The CPI General Secretary also questioned the timing of the Ram Temple event just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
"What is happening in our country? The temple event is being done while keeping an eye on the Lok Sabha elections. Because they (the BJP) think they can convert this event into a huge electoral campaign--a political campaign to hoodwink people at the time of elections," he said.
"And we are not in for such things. So we will not participate...", Raja added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram Temple on January 22.
The event has garnered significant global attention, with several VVIP guests from India and abroad receiving invitations to attend the ceremony.
Vedic rituals for the 'Pran-Pratishtha' ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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