Ayodhya is matter of faith for us, says Pramod Tiwari days after Cong declines Ram Mandir invite

NEW DELHI: Days after Congress turned down the invitation to the grand Ram Temple opening on January 22, party leader Pramod Tiwari said on Monday that they worship Lord Ram and Ayodhya is a "matter of faith" for them.

The decision to snub the invitation to the January 12 Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony by the opposing parties of the India bloc has triggered a political slugfest just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

On Sunday, Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said, "Those who love Ram would definitely come after receiving the invitation."

Reacting to his statement, Pramod Tiwari questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party for sending invitations. "Who are these people to distribute invitations?... Why is the BJP behaving like the ones who distribute invitations... Why are they keeping the record?", the Congress leader said. "The whole Congress is going to Ayodhya without invitation. Ayodhya is a matter of faith for us. We worship Lord Ram...", Tiwari added.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which kicked off from Manipur's Thoubal district on Sunday, will also cross through Uttar Pradesh. Choubey said, "Those who love Ram would definitely come after receiving the invitation... Those who love Ram would come even if they are not invited..." CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and a host of Congress bigwigs -- national president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Sonia Gandhi and the party's Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury--have already turned down the invitation to the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday turned down the invitation saying he will visit the temple with his family at a later date. The opposition parties of the INDIA bloc have accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of "using" the Ram Temple for electoral gains in the coming Lok Sabha polls. The BJP, on the other hand, has been accusing the grand old party of hurting religious sentiments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the ceremonial installation of Shri Ram Lalla inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Earlier, on Friday, PM Modi announced a special 11-day 'anushthan' (ritual) ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya's Ram Temple.