"It should come as no surprise": BJP's Nalin Kohli after Congress decides to skip Lord Ram's Pran Pratistha event

New Delhi [India], January 10 : Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nalin Kohli on Wednesday said that the senior Congress leaders' decision to decline the invitation to the Ram Temple event in Ayodhya later this month is 'not surprising'.
The BJP spokesperson said that it was the Congress-led UPA government that filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court to deny the existence of Lord Ram.
"It should come as no surprise. The Congress party, over the last few decades, really took no steps to see that there should be a temple at Ayodhya. In fact, Congress-UPA Government filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court to deny the existence of Lord Ram. They stood in court and never wanted an early hearing," he said.
This came after the Congress' senior Congress leaders--Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury--'declined' the invitation to the 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla in Ayodhya on January 22.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the grand event is "clearly a Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh event."
Responding to this, the BJP spokesperson said, "They (Congress) didn't want a temple there and saying that this is an event of the BJP or the RSS is an excuse. In reality, it does not fit with the Congress party's own thinking, otherwise, they would have been there out of affection for Lord Ram and would have been at Ayodhya and shared the excitement of millions of Indians all across the world and in India."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22. As per temple officials, the ceremony will be held over a span of seven days starting from January 16.
Preparations are underway in full swing for the Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' on January 22, which will draw dignitaries and people from all walks of life. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has decided to enthrone Ram Lalla at the sanctum-sanctorum of the Ram Temple at noon on January 22. Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony.
A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahotsav. Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, holds great spiritual, historical, and cultural significance for the people of India.