'Not invited for Deepotsav': Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad says BJP 'politicising' festivals

Awadhesh Prasad

As Ayodhya prepares to set up two Guinness World Records by lighting over 25 lakh diyas, Samajwadi Party leader and Faizabad's MP Awadhesh Prasad said on Wednesday, that the Ayodhya administration didn't invite him to the Deepotsav event. The MP accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "politicising our festivals".

Prasad told news agency ANI, "I extend my greetings to all residents of Ayodhya on the occasion of Diwali. I consider it my good fortune that I was elected from here. BJP is politicising our festivals too. I hope this will be a festival of brotherhood. BJP is politicising this festival and dividing people. I have not received a pass or invitation to Deepotsav. This festival doesn't belong to any one community. I will be going to Ayodhya today. I have not got any pass or invitation for Deepotsav."

Ayodhya, an important Hindu spiritual centre, falls under the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency. The holy city houses the Ram Temple which was inaugurated earlier this year. The temple was constructed following the Supreme Court's 2019 order which gave the disputed plot of land to the Hindu side. The court had also ordered the government to provide a separate plot of land to the Muslim side to construct a grand mosque.

The Deepotsav festival is organised by the state government in which lakhs of diyas are lit on the banks of the Saryu River on the occasion of Diwali. The Uttar Pradesh dispensation is aiming to create a new world record this year by lighting over 25 lakh diyas along the banks of the Saryu River later this evening.

The Deepotsav celebration in Ayodhya began on Wednesday with a procession of more than a dozen tableaux depicting scenes from the Ramayana.This is the eighth edition of Deepotsav in Ayodhya and the first Diwali following the consecration of the Ram Temple in January this year.