As PM Modi Attended Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya, Here's What Oppn Leaders Did | Explained

The Ram Lalla idol was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Pran Pratishtha rituals in Ayodhya. The event was watched by lakhs of people on television at their homes and in temples across the country as Army helicopters showered flower petals on the newly constructed Janmabhoomi temple as the consecration took place.

More than 10,000 people took part in the pran pratistha ceremony including celebrities, Bollywood superstars and business tycoons.

The temple trust, who organised the event, invited several Opposition leaders, but they have decided to stay away from the grand event. The opposition parties cannot go to the event as they claimed that the ruling government has turned the religious event into a political one ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Here’s a look at what the opposition leaders doing today while the prime ministers unveil the Ram Lalla idols in Ayodhya:

Rahul Gandhi in Assam

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is in Assam for Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, was scheduled to visit Batadrava Than, the birthplace of 15th century social reformer Srimanta Sankardev. However, he was stopped at Haibargaon en route to the Sankardeva’s birthplace where he along with senior Congress leaders and supporters staged a dharna.

“During a law-and-order crisis, everyone can go to the birthplace of Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva, only Rahul Gandhi cannot go,” the Congress leader said in Nagaon. The managing committee of the Sri Sankardeva Sattra had announced that they will not allow the Congress leader to visit the sattra before 3pm on January 22 after CM Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier said that he requested Gandhi not to visit before the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the authorities had told Gandhi that there could be a law and order problem and when he (Gandhi) offered to go alone, the request was turned down. ‘It is clear that it is their deliberate policy to prevent him from going to the holy place which occupies a place of social, cultural and religious importance for all’, Ramesh said.

Mamata Banerjee’s ‘All-Faith Rally’

On the day of consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is holding a parallel rally in Kolkata, calling for religious harmony.

Banerjee will first visit the revered Kalighat temple to offer prayers and then hold the ‘all-faith rally’. Meanwhile, the BJP has accused her of trying to create distraction from the Ayodhya event and had even approached the high court to halt the march, but failed.

AAP to Take Out Shobha Yatras

Shobha yatras to bhandaras, Sundar Kand recitals to aartis, the AAP has planned a series of events across the the 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi to mark the consecration ceremony at Ram temple in Ayodhya on Monday.

“All party ministers, MLAs, councillors, leaders, and workers will participate in ‘bhandaras’ (community kitchens), prasad distribution, and shobha yatras organised to celebrate Lord Ram’s welcome on January 22 across all 70 constituencies of Delhi,” AAP senior leader and MLA Dilip Pandey said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday attended the three-day Ramlila event being organised by the Delhi government’s Art, Culture and Languages department. The conclusion of the event, which began on Saturday, will coincide with Monday’s consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged all ministers, party MLAs, councillors, leaders, and workers to participate wherever a shobha yatra is taking place, contribute to the bhandaras and serve the people on this glorious occasion.

DMK vs BJP In Tamil Nadu

While the DMK led government has maintained that it does not agree with the building of a temple after “demolishing a mosque” in Ayodhya, the BJP has alleged that the LED screens installed at Kamakshi Amman Temple to watch the LIVE streaming of the temple inauguration were brought down.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was scheduled to watch the LIVE telecast of the Ram Mandir from Kamakshi Amman Temple. But the Tamil Nadu government refused permission to install LED screens to watch the LIVE telecast of Pran Pratishtha of Ayodhya Ram Temple.

The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government and others on Monday on a plea filed against the state’s oral order allegedly banning the live telecast of the “Pran Prathishta” in temples across Tamil Nadu.

Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) president and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit the Kalaram temple in Nashik on the day of the consecration. Thackeray was earlier sent an invitation by speed post for the Ram temple consecration ceremony to be held in Ayodhya on Monday.

He will offer prayers at the Kalaram temple and perform a ‘maha aarti’ on the Godavari River bank on Monday. On Tuesday, he will participate in a day-long convention of his party in Nashik.

Earlier on January 12, PM Narendra Modi had visited the temple located in the Panchavati area in Maharashtra, which finds mention in the Ramayana.