NEW DELHI: BJP national vice president Uma Bharti, one of the poster-women of the Ram Temple movement in the 1990s, on Monday dismissed the expectations around the invite to the ground-breaking ceremony for Ayodhya, saying only five people should be present on the stage with COVID restrictions on.
“I told the organisers (Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust) and officials in the government that keep the list for invitees for the ceremony very short. I also told them not to include me in the list either. I willingly offered to be left out. But I was invited over the phone. I told them I will be on the Saryu river bank and pray for the safety of others and the Temple construction. Except Lord Ram, nobody is important. He is the only form of eternity, rest of us are mortals," Bharti told TOI.
Overall, only 135 people have been invited for the ceremony on August 5.
Bharti said she has decided to give the ceremony a miss to keep her distance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders as she was concerned for their safety amid Covid-19.
"I am very much concerned about the health of the PM after what happened to Amit Shah (Union home minister) and other leaders of BJP in UP,” she said.
Bharti said she would go for a darshan after PM and others leave.
Commenting on no written invite being extended to senior BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Kalyan Singh — who along with Bharti face charges in the Babri Masjid demolition case — Bharti said it was meant to keep numbers of attendees low and adhere to Covid-19 protocol.
She dismissed insinuations that some leaders were not being extended a formal, written invite due to the ongoing CBI hearing in the matter at a Lucknow court.
“The law of the land states you are innocent till the verdict comes out, and when you are on bail. So these two issues are separate," the leader said.
“The ceremony should take place with minimum numbers. When construction of the Somnath temple started the then President Rajendra Prasad was present. Similarly, only PM Narendra Modi, UP Governor Anandiben Patel, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, UP chief minister Yogi Adtiyanath and Nyas chief Nritya Gopal Das should be present at the stage for the Ram temple foundation laying ceremony,” she said.
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister also saidRead More – Source
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