CMs of BJP-ruled states to offer prayers at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya today

Ayodhya: Eleven chief ministers of BJP-ruled states will offer prayers at the makeshift temple at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya on Wednesday. Protocol officials of the 11 chief ministers and three deputy chief ministers had reached Ayodhya on Tuesday.

The chief ministers arrived in Lucknow from Varanasi on Tuesday evening and, after a night stay in the state capital, will reach Ayodhya by 11 am on Wednesday, a senior district official said.

They will visit the Hanumangarhi temple around 2 pm and then offer prayers at the Ram Janmabhoomi, where a temple in being constructed.

Chief Ministers from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa, and two deputy chief ministers from Bihar and one from Arunachal Pradesh will be visiting the holy city, the official said.

Official sources indicated that chief ministers of Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Karnataka and Puducherry may also visit Ayodhya. The chief ministers were in Varanasi, where they attended the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. 

They also took part in a conclave of BJP chief ministers. The Prime Minister posted a picture with the chief ministers on Twitter, saying "Just concluded an extensive meeting in Kashi with @BJP4India Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers."