Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar has received an invitation to attend the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, which is slated to be held on January 22. However, the INDI coalition member seems to have turned down the invite. 

In a letter addressed to the General Secretary of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, Champat Rai, Sharad Pawar wrote "After the Pran Pratistha ceremony is completed on January 22, I will freely take out time and come for ‘darshan’ and by then the construction work of Ram Temple will also be completed."

Interestingly enough, the NCP supremo, in a recent interaction with reporters, explicitly stated that he is not anticipating an invitation for the consecration of the Lord Ram idol in Ayodhya, expressing concerns about the anticipated large crowd. However, he conveyed that he would visit the Ram Mandir when the timing aligns with his destiny. In a similar context, back in December, while acknowledging that he hadn't received an invitation for the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony, the veteran leader criticised the BJP for exploiting the issue for both political and commercial gains.

Before Pawar, several other opposition leaders have given several reasons for not attendign the historic ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony.

Last week, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav expressed his gratitude to Champat Rai, the general secretary of the Ayodhya Temple Trust, for extending an invitation to the consecration ceremony on January 22. In his letter, Akhilesh conveyed his intention to visit the temple alongside his family following the inauguration event.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has sparked a fresh controversy by politicising the upcoming ceremony and terming the event as ‘Modi ka Function (Modi’s function)'. “The RSS and the BJP have made the January 22 function a completely political Narendra Modi function. It's a RSS-BJP function and I think that is why the Congress President said that he would not go to the function. We are open to all religions, and all practices", said the Wayanad MP. His statement came days after the Congress high command decided not to attend the consecration event at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Referring to the reports of '4 Shankaracharyas not attending the event’, Rahul said, "Even the biggest authorities of the Hindu religion have made their view public about what they think about the 22nd January function that it is political. So it is difficult for us to go to a political function which is designed around the Prime Minister of India and designed around the RSS...".

This came days after senior Congress leaders - Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury - 'declined' the invitation to the 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla in Ayodhya on January 22.

Last week, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray made a significant announcement, declaring that his party would conduct a 'Maha Aarti' on the banks of the Godavari River at Nashik's Shree Kalaram Temple on January 22, coinciding with the Ayodhya temple consecration ceremony.

Following the decision of Left parties and Congress leadership to boycott the Ram Mandir inauguration, the political discourse surrounding the event intensifies with West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee declaring her decision to abstain from attending the ceremony. Mamata Banerjee announced a 'Sampriti Michil' or 'rally for harmony' scheduled in Kolkata on January 22, coinciding with the Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony. Emphasizing her perspective, she stated, "It is not our job to do Pran Pratistha. It is the job of the priests. Our job is to create infrastructure."

Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) national president Nitish Kumar, who received an invitation to attend the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla, will independently decide whether he will participate in the grand event in Ayodhya later this month, as stated by party leader KC Tyagi last week. The JD(U) leader mentioned that an official announcement regarding the decision would be forthcoming.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury has opted not to attend the Ram Temple inauguration event in Ayodhya, with the party citing the politicisation of religious beliefs as the grounds for declining the invitation.