‘Cong could not have gone to event centred around PM, RSS’: Rahul Gandhi speaks up on temple invite

Speaking on thepolitical row over the invite for the Ram Temple inauguration for the first time, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS have “captured” the event and turned it into an “election function”, making it difficult for the Congress to attend.

Addressing a press conference here, around 30 km from Nagaland capital Kohima, during his Bharat Nyay Jodo Yatra, he also signalled that there were no plans yet to visit Ayodhya when the march passes through Uttar Pradesh.

TheJanuary 22 temple consecration was designed “around Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS”, Rahul said, giving it an “electoral” and “political” flavour. “Even the authorities of the Hindu religion, the biggest authorities of the Hindu religion, have made their view public about what they think about the function,” he said, hinting at objections raised by the Shankaracharyas on the consecration.

Unlike his opponents in the BJP, Rahul added, he didn’t need to wear his religion on his sleeve, adding: “We have made it clear that whoever would like to visit the Ram Temple… among our partners and from our parties… is most welcome to do so.”

The Congress was open to all religions and practices, Rahul said, reiterating: “The issue frankly is that the RSS and the BJP have made the January 22 function a completely political function, a Narendra Modi function. It has become an RSS-BJP function. And I think that is why the Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) said that he would not go to the function… It is difficult for us to go to a political function which is designed around the Prime Minister of India and designed around the RSS… the Congress’s principal opponents.”

Asked specifically whether he would visit