Raipur: Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday criticised Congress for declining invitation to Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya, saying the grand old party has the habit of protesting against things that make the country proud.
Shekhawat, who is on a three-day visit to Chhattisgarh said there are ample instances where Congress protested while the whole country rejoiced. "Judging Congress by their old habit, it is not surprising that the senior leaders of the party are not attending the Ram Mandir Pran Pratistha ceremony," he said.
According to the Union Minister, if a record is taken of the last 10 years then it will be evident that major decisions that the entire country supported and celebrated did not go down well with the Congress, who opposed. "Be it the inauguration of the new Parliament building or the issue of providing world-class Covid vaccine or conferring Bharat Ratna to former President Pranab Mukherjee or surgical strikes by our soldiers, Congress has always protested. Congress has depicted the same attitude with Ram Mandir consecration," Shekhawat said.
The senior BJP leader also alleged that the reason as to why Congress leaders have declined the consecration invitation is that they are 'anti-Hindus'. "The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra had extended invitation to senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury but they turned it down because they are anti-Hindus," he said.
Accusing Congress of always having an anti-Congress attitude, Shekhawat reminded that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had not visited Somnath temple after it was rebuilt. "It should be remembered that even Nehru did not visit the Somnath temple and had reprimanded the then Gujarat chief minister. Rajendra Prasad, first President of the country was also forbidden to visit as he used to say that he was a Hindu by default. Anti-Hindu sentiment is in their DNA," Shekhawat added.
Earlier on Sunday, Assembly Speaker Raman Singh had also slammed Congress' decision to skip Ram Mandir consecration in Rajnandgaon. Singh said that the entire country is celebrating the event but it is the misfortune of the Congress leaders that they are not participating. May God give them wisdom and shower blessings on them, he had added.
Past events Congress had skipped:
September 2023: A dinner was hosted by President Draupadi Murmu during the G-20 Summit and invitations were sent to many Congress leaders. But all the leaders including those from Congress-ruled states did not participate.
May 2023: The new Parliament was inaugurated in May 2023. All opposition parties including Congress had boycotted it.
January 2021: Congress and other opposition parties boycotted the President's address in the joint meeting of Parliament.
December 2020: Congress had boycotted the bhoomi pujan ceremony of the new Parliament building.
August 2019: When Pranab Mukherjee was given Bharat Ratna, Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were not present in the ceremony.
June 2017: Congress boycotted the Parliament session when GST was implemented. Congress MPs had called it a black decision.
1951: Jawahar Lal Nehru was reportedly against the Rajendra Prasad's presence at the renovated Somnath Temple inauguration.
Congress had boycotted the Kargil Vijay Diwas from 2004 to 2009 but from 2010 onwards, the party started participating in the programmes of Kargil Vijay Diwas.
Congress leader Shiv Dahriya, who earlier accused BJP of using the consecration for political gains had said that even Shankaracharya is not attending the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha.
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