Bollywood actor turned politician and Trinamool Congress MP Shatrughan Sinha took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the publicity of the Ram Mandir and said that the number of visitors dropped significantly after the Pran Pratishtha on January 22.
Addressing a public gathering in Bengal's Asansol, Mr Sinha said that BJP created a big drama even when the temple was not completely built.
"I say it with sadness. After so much publicity (of Ram Temple in Ayodhya), around five lakh people reached there on the first day. Big corporate houses and artists were called but the common man was not invited. However, on the second and third day, only three lakh people reached there. After that, it came down to two lakhs. Now, five thousand, 10 thousand and 20 thousand people are going there," he said.
"So when Shankaracharyas did not reach the place, the temple was not completed, you created so much drama and did publicity on it. Farmers are sitting on the road. It seems that he is not the Prime Minister but the Publicity Minister. If you just keep preaching, then when do you work?" he added.
The BJP hit back at the TMC MP and termed him a "liar".
In his post on X, In-charge of BJP's National Information and Technology Department, Amit Malviya said that will Asansol tolerate someone who defames and lies about Bhagwan Ram?
"Like Mamata Banerjee, TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha is also a liar. More than 50 lakh people visited Ayodhya for Bhagwan Ram's darshan in the first month and the numbers have been only rising. It is projected than five crore devotees will visit Ayodhya annually, far more than what Mecca and Vatican receive. For Pran Pratistha also, people from all walks of life, rich and poor, all castes and denominations were present. Will Asansol tolerate someone who defames and lies about Bhagwan Ram?" he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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