Patna: Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi, who has arrived in Ayodhya to partake in the consecration ceremony of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple, appealed to the people of Bihar to light lamps in their homes and temples on the evening of January 22. During this historic occasion, he expressed concern that individuals opposing the ceremony may raise unwarranted questions.
Modi addressed those questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the Pran Pratishtha program, reminding them that the first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, inaugurated Gujarat’s Somnath Temple, even when Prime Minister Nehru was against the decision. He criticized those rejecting invitations to the consecration ceremony from Nehru’s party.
Highlighting historical parallels, Modi noted that during the inauguration of the Somnath temple, its construction was not entirely complete. According to scriptures, once the sanctum sanctorum is prepared, installing and consecrating the idol is a religious practice, and the remaining construction may continue for years.
Addressing objections about the timing of the Ram temple consecration in relation to elections, Modi questioned whether the country’s first general election in 1952, just four months before the Somnath temple inauguration, wasn’t similarly aligned. He emphasized that the dates for the rituals of the Ram temple are determined by sages, saints, astrologers, and the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple pilgrimage area jury, while election dates are set by the Election Commission, with no role for the government or political parties.
Modi recalled the historical context of 1989, mentioning that Home Minister Buta Singh and senior Congress leader Kamlapati Tripathi attended the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Ram Temple. That year, Rajiv Gandhi initiated his election campaign from Ayodhya.
