Confusion in Cong Kerala unit over Ram Temple consecration ceremony invite

Confusion has arisen within the Congress' Kerala state unit regarding the political stance to be taken on the invitation to its national leadership to attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP K Muraleedharan on Thursday said the state unit of the party has urged the national leadership not to participate in the consecration ceremony.

However, KPCC chief K Sudhakaran expressed that he was unaware of the state unit conveying its position to the national leadership on the matter.

"The state unit's position on this issue has been conveyed to AICC general secretary, K C Venugopal," Muraleedharan said earlier in the day amid growing pressure from Muslim groups in the state against Congress leaders attending the ceremony.

"The Congress, at any cost, should not participate in it. That is the decision of the state leadership of the party. The sentiments of the state unit have been conveyed to Venugopal," Muraleedharan told reporters.

He, however, said the Congress is a national party that leads the anti-BJP INDIA Front, and an appropriate decision on the matter would be taken by the national leadership after discussing it with them.

Muraleedharan also noted that the Samajwadi Party, a major constituent of the INDIA Front, has announced that it would participate in the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple.

Sudhakaran said it is a decision to be taken by the national leadership of the party.

"If they ask our position on the matter, we will convey it to them," he told reporters.

When asked about Muraleedharan's statement, the KPCC chief said, "Ask him about it."

Reacting to the CPI(M)'s decision to turn down the invitation to attend the inauguration of the Ram temple, CWC member and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said the Left party can take a decision easily on the matter as they don't have faith in any religion.

"There are no ideologies of the CPI(M) or the BJP within the Congress. We are seeing Hindutva as a political doctrine. It is not connected with the Hindu religion. So, we are neither the CPI(M) nor the BJP. Give us time to take a decision on the matter," he told the media in Malayalam.

Congress leaders made the statements a day after Samastha, a prominent Muslim Sunni clerical body in Kerala, criticised the party for being indecisive about attending the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The editorial in 'Suprabhatham', the mouthpiece of Samastha, accused the Congress of having a soft-Hindutva stance.

The Congress has not revealed whether its key leaders, including President Mallikarjun Kharge, former chief Sonia Gandhi and Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, will attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

Despite receiving invitations, the party has not disclosed its stance on the matter but expressed gratitude for the invitations.