Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge along with senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declined the invitation to attend the Ram Mandir event in Ayodhya on January 22.
Last month, Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury received an invitation to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya to be held on January 22.
"Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya," the Congress said.
"The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been brought forward for electoral gain," it added.
Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issue and called it a "gimmick show" ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Banerjee's remarks indicate that the BJP is using the extravagant event for political posturing to gain mileage in the run-up to the polls. She was addressing a state government event in Jaynagar, South 24-Parganas on January 9 when for the first time she went public with her opinion on the Ram Mandir issue.
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