Advani, other agitation leaders to be invited to ‘bhumi pujan’ of temple

AYODHYA,

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and other leaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation will be invited to the “bhumi pujan” for the construction of the Ayodhya temple, a Ram Mandir trust member said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ayodhya on August 5 for the ceremony. Kameshwar Chaupal, a member of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra, a trust set up by the Centre to oversee the construction of the temple, said they will invite former deputy PM L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar.

Currently, the BJP leaders are facing a trial in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The trust has kept it in mind that former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, along with other leaders, took the Ram Mandir movement to the masses, Chaupal said, adding that the list of invitees is being finalised. Ram Mandir trust spokesperson Nritya Gopal Das said 5 silver bricks will be placed inside the sanctum sanctorum during the ceremony. Santosh Dubey, an accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case, said the present generation of BJP leaders was not active in the Ram Mandir movement, which “mobilised the Hindu masses” to vote for the party.

“But the senior leaders who started the Ram Mandir movement and mobilised the community are now in political exile,” Dubey said. The bricks are believed to symbolise five planets as per the Hindu mythology, he said, adding that the design and the architecture of the temple is the same as the one proposed. According to trust sources, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat , Maharashtra Chief Minister Udhav Thackeray and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar are also on the list of invitees.

‘Uddhav will definitely go for bhumi pujan’

MUMBAI,

MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray will definitely go for the ground-breaking ceremony of Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, party MP Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday. Asked whether Thackeray has received an invitation for the ceremony, Raut said, It will come.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on August 5 for the ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony to begin the construction of the Ram temple.

Chief Minister Thackeray will definitely go for the ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony, because the Shiv Sena shares sentimental, religious and national ties with this issue,” Raut told a TV channel. As I had said yesterday, the Shiv Sena had made a big contribution, and (Shiv Sainiks) shed their blood and made sacrifices for the cause of Ram temple construction, he added. Raut reiterated that Thackeray keeps visiting Ayodhya and has done so before and after becoming the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The ceremony is historic from the point of view of the country, Hindutva, for the thousands of martyrs, he said. Raut also said lakhs of Lord Ram devotees would have turned up for the ceremony had there been no COVID-19 crisis prevailing.

The Rajya Sabha member on Monday claimed his party paved the way to the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and removed roadblocks in the temple construction for the cause of Hindutva and not for politics. It needs to be seen how many people will be invited for the temple’s ground-breaking ceremony next month and what social distancing measures will be taken at the event (in view of the COVID-19 outbreak), Raut said. “What ‘political social distancing’ they will observe remains to be seen,” he said.

After a protracted legal tussle, the Supreme Court on November 9 last year paved the way for the construction of Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The apex court directed the Centre to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a “prominent” place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.