Ayodhya stalwarts may stay away from Ram temple event

IANS

The frontline leaders of the Ayodhya movement will not be present in the temple town Wednesday when the much-awaited bhumi pujan (ground blessing) of the Ram temple takes place.

While LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi will attend the ceremony virtually, Uma Bharti has said that she would prefer to stay away from the function due to the pandemic.

Swami Govind Giri said that these leaders were prone to the Covid-19 infection because of their age and it was in their larger interest that they do not attend the function physically.

Reports said that former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh may also stay away from the bhumi pujan ceremony for ‘unexplained reasons’. A close aide of the former chief minister said that his office has not yet received the invitation from the Trust.

Doubts about another firebrand BJP leader Vinay Katiyar attending the ceremony also prevails as the leader did not confirm his presence at the ceremony.