Tumkuru, Jan 21 (UNI) Against the demand of the BJP and Sangh Parivar, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday refused to declare a public holiday on the occasion of Pran Prathista of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya Temple on January 22.
“(I) will not declare a holiday. In Mahadevpura constituency, I am inaugurating the newly built Sri Ram temple on Monday,” he told reporters here.
He was replying to the central government’s decision to declare a half-day holiday for its offices on the occasion of Pran Prathista of Ram Lalla on January 22 in Ayodhya temple.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said there is Ram in Siddaramaiah’s name and Shiva in his name and added that they needn’t learn religious rituals from others as they have been following them for a very long time.
“Our bhakti, our respect, our religion…we won’t publicize that. Nobody has asked us this, but our ministers are doing pooja in temples. Our prayers will bear fruit. We are asking everyone to pray,” he said.
“Siddaramaiah has Rama in his name, I have Shiva in my name. Nobody has to teach us anything or pressure us. We’ll do our duty,” he added.
Responding to remarks made by Congress leaders, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje said the opposition to Sri Ram and Ram Mandir by the Congress is no surprise but is seen around the temples during elections.
“People have boycotted the Congress because it is opposed to the idea of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The Congress argued against Sri Ram in the Supreme Court. Despite knowing the fact that Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya, it has been opposing the construction of the Ram Mandir there.
“There is no surprise in the Congress now opposing this [Pran Pratishtha ceremony] in Ayodhya. When elections are around, they [Congress leaders] roam around temples and do appeasement politics on other days,” she told reporters at Anjanadri in Koppal district.
