Shilanyas was performed during Rajiv Gandhi tenure, reminds Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday invoked a controversy saying that the ‘Shilanyas’ for the Ram temple at Ayodhya was conducted when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country. He further accused the BJP and RSS of doing politics on the issue.

Speaking at a public meeting at Nipani in Karnataka, Pawar said, “The shilanyas (laying of first stone) was conducted during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, but today the BJP and RSS are doing politics in the name of Lord Ram.”

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertaking an 11-day fast ahead of the consecration ceremony, Pawar said, “I respect his faith in Ram, but had he decided to observe a fast to eliminate poverty, people would have appreciated it.”

The grand inauguration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram temple is set to take place on January 22.

The development came after the Supreme Court in 2019 paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya following the demolition of Babri Masjid in December 1992. The ‘bhoomi pujan’ of the newly constructed temple was performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5, 2020.

rime Minister Narendra Modi on January 12 started a special 11-day religious practice ahead of the Ram temple inauguration ceremony on January 22.

More than a lakh devotees are expected to arrive in the temple town on the occasion of ‘pran pratishtha’ of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Around 7,000 guests from India and abroad have been extended invitations.

The guest list for the inaugural function is being decided by a team nominated by the Sri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which is dominated by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) leaders.

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