All chief minister to invite to the foundation laying ceremony at Ayodhya

Mumbai: The Ram Temple trust has decided to invite all chief ministers to the foundation laying ceremony on August 5 at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be present in person for laying the foundation stone on the occasion.

Earlier, a member of the trust had confirmed that invitations will be sent out to prominent figures associated with the Ayodhya Ram Temple movement including former deputy prime minister L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar for the ‘Bhoomi Poojan’ ceremony. Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s name was also mentioned by a member of the trust as possible invitees but there was no formal confirmation.

‘Before laying the foundation stone, PM Modi will offer prayers to Lord Ram at the temple and Lord Hanuman at Hanuman Garhi Temple. All chief ministers will be invited to the programme,’ Swami Govind Dev Giri, treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra said in Pune.

Shiv Sena has confirmed that Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will attend the ceremony; however, the timing of the foundation stone laying ritual has invited criticism from opposition party leaders such as NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat.

While Pawar suggested that building a Ram Temple was not going to help in mitigating the present crisis engendered by the coronavirus outbreak; Thorat accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of using the ceremony to distract from its alleged failures on Covid management front.