Ram Mandir inauguration at Ayodhya is an 'event management work' of BJP aimed at Lok Sabha elections: Congress

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Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday said that the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya is an 'event management work' of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) aimed at political advantage for upcoming Lok sabha elections.

"Only event management work is going on for the Lok Sabha elections and people understand this. What more proof do you need than that four Shankaracharyas have refused to attend the Pran Pratishtha ceremony? Everyone knows that this is being done to gain political advantage," Ramesh Chennithala told ANI in Nagpur.

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Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the state Congress will hold review meetings from January 18. The party in its press release earlier this week said that on behalf of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, it will start regional, block level meetings for preparations and planning election strategy ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

These meetings will be held under leadership of newly appointed in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and state president Nana Patole. Chennithala earlier had emphasized the need for a united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its divisive policies, stating that the party is committed to challenging the BJP government's actions over the past decade.

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Opposition parties, including the Congress, have claimed that the Shankaracharyas have decided against attending the January 22 event after objecting to the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at an 'incomplete temple'.

The shankaracharyas are the heads of the four Hindu mathas- Dwarka (Gujarat), Joshimath (Uttarakhand), Puri (Odisha), and Sringeri (Karnataka) -- that are believed to have been founded by the eighth-century religious scholar and philosopher Adi Shankara.

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that he would visit Ayodhya to offer prayers to Lord Ram after the completion of the temple construction. In a letter to Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Pawar said he was thankful for the invitation to attend the 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony at the temple on January 22 but won't be a part of it on that day.

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Senior Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Sachin Pilot have declined the invitation extended by Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Trust to attend the 'Pran Prathista' ceremony, alleging that it has been turned into a political event by the BJP and RSS. The Congress have also alleged that the BJP has turned religion into politics.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

(With ANI and PTI inputs)