During the Pran Pratishtha ceremony for the inauguration of the Ram temple on January 22, numerous politicians affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) attended the event in Ayodhya. Leaders such as Chandrababu Naidu of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda were also present. However, all leaders of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc chose to skip the event.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is currently in the Northeast for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, was advised against visiting the Batadrava Satra Temple, the birthplace of 15th-century social reformer Srimanta Sankardev, during the daytime. The monastery committee cited the visit of over 10,000 devotees on the occasion of the Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya as the reason for the request.
Rahul Gandhi expressed his disappointment, stating that they were invited, and now they were being told not to visit. Despite the setback, he emphasized that they would not do anything forcibly and were merely seeking an explanation for the denial. This incident occurred shortly after Rahul Gandhi had to be rescued and moved inside the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ bus by his security personnel and party workers on Sunday, as a large crowd, including those carrying BJP flags, gathered at the yatra in Assam’s Sonipur district.