NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed a senior Congress leader for suggesting the purification of Ayodhya’s Ram temple once the INDIA bloc comes to power and said that Nana Patole made the remarks a day after President Droupadi Murmu’s visit . PM Modi called the remarks ‘
an insult to the President
, tribals, women and the country as a whole’ and that the Congress has ‘no right to remain in politics’.
In a recent public address in Odisha’s Bargarh, PM Modi said, “One day after her (President Droupadi Murmu) visit, one of the biggest leaders of the Congress party said we will do purification of Ram temple with Gangajal. Do such people have the right to be in Indian politics?”
He questioned the legitimacy of such individuals in Indian politics, asserting that the Congress party should not have a place in the political arena. PM Modi also underscored the contrast between the actions of the BJP and the Congress, noting that the BJP had appointed a tribal daughter of Odisha as the President of India.
President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the Ram temple on May 1 included the performance of rituals such as aarti and bowing before the idol of Ram Lalla. The temple authorities presented her with a miniature replica of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple and a framed photo of the idol of Ram Lalla.
A controversy erupted when Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole suggested the purification of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya. Speaking about the plans of the Opposition bloc INDIA if it assumes power at the center, Patole said that the alliance intends to carry out a “shuddhikaran (purification)” of the Ram temple citing failure to follow norms and a “political angle” to the event.
“We will conduct the purification of the Ram Mandir. This isn’t solely the stance of INDIA; even the shankaracharyas of Sanatana dharma advocate for the need for a purification of the Ram temple,” affirmed Nana Patole.
“The way Narendra Modi performed pran prathistha of the Ram Lalla against the advice of the shankaracharyas, we will correct it. The country knows he performed puja in an incorrect manner. Shankaracharyas have said it was not the way,” the Congress leader had said.
The ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony for Shri Ram Lalla at the Ram temple in Ayodhya took place on January 22, with PM Narendra Modi leading the Vedic rituals in the presence of representatives from various spiritual and religious sects across the country.