Shimla: Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of the late former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, will attend Ram Lalla’s pran pratishtha ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on 22 January, even as the central leadership of the Congress is yet to take a call on the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s invitation to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi.
Vikramaditya Singh, the public works minister, is the only Congress leader in Himachal Pradesh to get an invitation for the consecration ceremony.
“I have received an invitation from the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the temple trust, and I will attend the function,” Singh told ThePrint. “This issue is above political lines for us. My father had contributed towards the construction of the Ram temple in his last days. He always supported the Ram Mandir movement.”
Singh said he was likely invited because the organisers “must have seen my father’s contribution”. “I have also said that I would follow in the footsteps of my father,” he added.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) echoed Singh, saying the minister’s family had always been in favour of a Ram temple at Ayodhya.
“Former chief minister Virbahdra Singh believed that a Ram temple should be built in Ayodhya. He had once said ‘where else should it be made when Ayodhya is Shri Ram’s janmabhoomi (birthplace)?’” the leader added. “He had said that land for the temple could be provided even in Himachal Pradesh but Ayodhya is the right place.”
While Vikramaditya Singh told the press that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and state cabinet ministers will also go to Ayodhya, the CM said they hadn’t been invited.
“So far, no invitation has been received from Ayodhya, but whether we get an invitation or not, Lord Ram is the centre of our aastha (faith) and we will follow the path shown by him,” he added, speaking to mediapersons.
A senior Congress leader from Himachal told ThePrint that Vikramaditya Singh’s decision to attend the inauguration ceremony was “his personal decision, not of the party or the government”.
Also Read: BJP rolls out the Ayodhya welcome mat. Opposition walks into the boycott trap
‘Centre of religious sentiments’
When Virbhadra Singh died in 2021, senior Himachal Pradesh RSS functionary Professor Vir Singh Rangra had said in a statement that it was during the former’s tenure as CM “that an anti-conversion law was enacted for the first time in the state”.
Virbhadra Singh, the functionary said, had attended several programmes organised by the RSS and was also in favour of the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, set up by the Centre to build and manage the temple, has sent invitations for the consecration ceremony to nearly 8,000 people, including industrialists, actors and sports stars. Invitations have also been sent to several political leaders, including those in the Opposition.
Another senior office-bearer of the state Congress said invitations should have been sent to all chief ministers. “Invitation has been sent to our national president, and Sonia Gandhi ji. Ram mandir is a centre of our religious sentiments and our leadership should attend the function,” the leader added.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
Also Read: ‘Excitement over Ram Mandir’, G20, Naatu Naatu, mental health — Modi’s last Mann Ki Baat of 2023