Rift in Himachal Congress over Ayodhya visit as Vikramaditya, Sudhir defy ‘diktat’ on Ram Temple consecration
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State president Pratibha says wrong to politicise issue; Chander Shekhar and Kaul Singh Thakur attack BJP
The Newz Radar
SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh Congress is a divided house again, this time over participating in the January 22 (2024) consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Of the 40 Congress MLAs in the state, at least two — Vikramaditya Singh and Sudhir Sharma — have refused to toe the party top leadership’s “diktat” against attending the event.
The RSS, VHP and the Ram Temple management committee had extended invites to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Sonia Gandhi. However, both declined it. Kharge emphasised that the Congress leadership did not need any invite or a specific date to visit Lord Ram’s temple. He dismissed the entire event as a “BJP ploy to gain political mileage ahead of the Lok Sabha elections”.
In Himachal, young PWD minister Vikramaditya, the son of state Congress president Pratibha Singh and six-term former Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh, has on more than one occasion defended his decision to visit Ayodhya on January 22. The minister said that he had even spoken to the Congress high command on the issue and they had no objection to his visiting Ayodhya. “Lord Rama’s idol installation ceremony has nothing to do with politics. As I said earlier, I will attend the consecration,” he affirmed. In his latest video, Vikramaditya, however, appeared to have softened his stance a bit saying it wasn’t necessary that one should visit Ayodhya only on January 22.
Disgruntled MLA Sudhir Sharma, who remained a minister in the Virbhadra government from 2012-17, too is adamant on the visit. He made it known through a social media post that he had received the invite, and that he would definitely make it for the consecration.
Around 100 persons are learnt to have been invited from Himachal so far. Vikramaditya is the only minister in the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu cabinet to have received the invite. It isn’t clear who all from the state BJP have got it. Talking to the media, Chief Minister Sukhu too had aired views similar to his party president Kharge: “No invite is required to visit God.”
The dissent within the Himachal Pradesh Congress highlights a divergence of opinions on various issues. While some members reject what they perceive as a party directive, others, including the top leadership, view the event through a political lens, questioning its motives in the context of upcoming elections. This internal rift adds a layer of complexity to the political landscape in the hill state.
Congress state president Pratibha said that Himachal had 95 per cent Hindu population, and Lord Ram was worshipped in every household. She emphasised against politicising the issue of visiting Ayodhya saying anyone with capacity and time should visit and seek the blessings of Lord Ram whenever possible.
Chander Shekhar, Congress MLA from Dharampur in Mandi, stated that he had no time to ponder over “Lord Ram and Ayodhya” as he was preoccupied with the state-level Statehood Day, being observed for the first time in the last 52 years in his constituency. “As for my plans to visit Ayodhya, I will go when I am comfortable, not as dictated by a specific political party,” he said.
Senior Congress leader Kaul Singh, initially refraining from commenting on the subject, later alleged that the BJP had failed to gain approval from the four Shankaracharyas for the “pran pratishtha” as they considered it inopportune time for the holy occasion as the temple was incomplete. “Lord Ram is not exclusive to the BJP or PM Modi and everyone’s money has been spent on the temple’s construction. We will go and seek the blessings of Lord Ram, but on our own terms and when there’s God calling,” he asserted.
