'Vo Ram ke vyapari hain...': Congress' Jairam Ramesh hits out at BJP, PM Modi

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday defended his party's decision to decline the invitation for the Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya in January, asserting that the event was political. Ramesh, who is Congress general secretary, accused the BJP of politicizing religion.

He said Congress members are worshippers of Lord Ram, while accusing the BJP of being traders of the deity. Jairam Ramesh said they are "vyapari (traders) of Ram" whereas Congress leaders were "pujari (worshippers)" of the deity. 

Ramesh said that the Ram Mandir pran pratishtha that took place on January 22 this year was a political event. He added that politicisation of religion brings down religion as well as politics. 

"The January 22 celebration was political. It was done for a political person. We are the worshippers of Ram and they (BJP) are traders of Ram. Interestingly, it is my birthday today., My name is Jairam Ramesh- both parts of my name have 'Ram'. No one can call us anti-Ram. The politicisation of religion brings down religion and politics as well," Ramesh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. 

The Congress had earlier issued a statement, stating the event was an RSS/BJP event and their senior leaders have declined the invitation while honouring the sentiments of those who revere Lord Ram.

"While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event," the party had said in a statement.

The comments came in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of Congress for declining the invitation during his Lok Sabha election rally in Chhattisgarh. PM Modi, during his speech in Chhattisgarh, said that the dream of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya has been fulfilled and this time, Lord Ram's blessings will come from the grand temple and not just from a tent.

“The Congress made several efforts so that the Ram temple in Ayodhya is not constructed. But when the people of the country made such a beautiful temple by contributing every penny, and when the temple people forgave all your sins, and invited you for the ‘pran prathistaa’, you insulted Lord Ram by rejecting the invitation and expelled leaders, who attended it, for six years,” the Prime Minister said.