Sonia Gandhi May Attend Ram Temple Event, But Final Decision Later: Sources

Sonia Gandhi is likely to attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Congress sources said Friday, stressing that a final decision will be taken closer to the day.

Mrs Gandhi, party boss Mallikarjun Kharge, and the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, were all invited to the event, which has become the focus of the country's political rhetoric ahead of a general election in less than four months.

The Congress' Digvijaya Singh had earlier said either Mrs Gandhi - who, he said, was "very positive on this" - or a delegation will attend the ceremony to be headlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sources have said the Congress' decision on this politically sensitive issue will follow extensive talks with its allies, including those in the INDIA opposition bloc, such as the Indian Union Muslim League.

The Congress, it is understood, will explain that it is walking a necessary tight rope before the election. Not attending the event, the Congress feels, will give the BJP a deadly weapon with which to attack the party and, by extension, its INDIA allies, before polls.

Invitations to non-BJP political parties, specifically those allied against the ruling party, have stirred up a (predictable) hornet's nest, with those leaders now weighing the pros and cons of either decision.

As with the Congress, to attend could leave them open to a possible backlash from minority communities, not just Muslims, ahead of a general election and multiple state polls next year. Abstaining, many feel, will give the ruling BJP ammunition for the same.

The CPIM and CPI have made their beds; earlier this week Brinda Karat said her party would skip what she slammed as "using religion as a political weapon". "No, we will not go. We respect the religious beliefs... but they are connecting a religious programme with politics... it is not right," she said.

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Ex-Congress leader Kapil Sibal, now an independent Rajya Sabha MP, said he had "Lord Ram in my heart" and didn't want to attend what will likely be a show of strength by the BJP before the election.

READ | "Only Those Invited By Ram Will Come": Ayodhya Temple Event Row

The BJP - for which construction of the temple has been a major campaign issue, and will be again in the run-up to next year's elections - hit back at Ms Karat with Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi, saying, "... invitations were sent to all (but) only those called by Lord Ram will come".

READ | "Those Not Going Are Weaponising Religion": Minister On Temple Row

"Had they (the Left) been present there would have been no weaponisation. The weaponisation is being done by people speaking against a particular religion. If invites were sent and some didn't come, then who is weaponising it? Those who sent invites or those who chose not to go?" she asked, speaking to NDTV.

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