Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Prathistha': Akhilesh Yadav Opts Out Of Ceremony, Vows To Visit As Devotee Later

New Delhi: The ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22 has sparked a political controversy, as Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has decided not to attend the event. The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said that he would visit the temple with his family after the inauguration, instead of being part of the ceremony.

He expressed his gratitude and wishes to the temple trust in a letter, which he shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) late on Saturday night. “We will surely visit with family as devotees after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony,” he wrote, thanking the trust for the “affectionate invitation” to the ceremony of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, Ayodhya.

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— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) January 13, 2024

He also congratulated the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the successful completion of the ceremony. Akhilesh Yadav’s decision came after he accused the BJP of humiliating the opposition parties in the name of Lord Ram on Friday.

He said that the BJP was using the Ram temple as a political tool, rather than a religious one. The Congress, which is an ally of the SP in the INDIA bloc, also announced that it would not participate in the ceremony.

The INDIA bloc is a coalition of opposition parties that aims to challenge the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The BJP, on the other hand, has been targeting the parties that have declined the Ram temple invite, calling them “anti-Ram” parties.