'Those who created hurdles for Ram temple construction shouldn't be invited to Ayodhya'

BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has voiced opposition to inviting the leaders of opposition parties who ”created obstacles” in the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya for its consecration ceremony scheduled for January 22.

Talking to reporters, Singh also dismissed the speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Ayodhya. ”The opposition, which created hurdles in the construction of the temple at every step, should not be invited to Ayodhya at all,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a programme at Rasauli in the Safdarganj area of this Uttar Pradesh district on Tuesday evening.

”These (opposition leaders) are the same people who, while targeting the BJP, used to say ‘Ramlala, hum ayenge, mandir wahin banayenge lekin tarikh nahi batayenge (we will come, we will build the temple there but will not reveal the date),” the MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh said.

According to reports, invitations for the Ram temple consecration ceremony have been sent to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singh said a dream of 500 years is about to be realised. ”Lord Ram is coming to every house. Only Lord Ram and the Ram temple are being discussed all over the country today. The dream of the last 500 years is being fulfilled,” he said.

The BJP leader rejected the speculation about Modi contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Ayodhya.

”I do not think that the prime minister will contest the election from the Ayodhya Lok Sabha constituency. There is no leader in the country whose election boat sails without taking Modi’s name. The very agenda of the election today is Modi,” he said.

To a question on the suspension of the executive body of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the sports ministry, Singh, the former chief of the federation, said, ”I have been the president of the wrestling federation for 12 years. Now I have nothing to do with it. Sanjay Singh is the elected president. No one can remove him.” He said the new WFI executive body was elected following polls conducted on the Supreme Court’s instructions and hence, no one has the right to remove it.