Wary Cong reacts in differing voices

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 5

Absence of the word “welcome” stood out in the responses of top Congress leaders today as Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The grand old party’s lasting dilemma over the three decade-old issue was evident in the way former party president Rahul Gandhi reacted to the ground-breaking event.

“Lord Ram is the ultimate embodiment of supreme human values and can never appear in cruelty, hatred or injustice,” Gandhi said today seeking to ask if the BJP’s brand of politics was a true marker of Lord Ram’s legacy. Gandhi has consistently attacked the BJP as “divisive and polarising,” and his response today gave away his hidden message.

While Gandhi spoke in one voice steering clear of welcoming the event, former ministers Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari did congratulate devotees on the occasion.

“The construction of a grand Ram Temple was a long-standing aspiration of devotees in Ayodhya and the world. Today that dream has been realised. Best wishes to all Ayodhya residents and Lord Ram devotees,” Anand Sharma said with Tewari also sending out congratulations to people.

Former MoS Shashi Tharoor lashed out at the ruling party after its leaders shared a Twitter poster showing PM Modi walking Ram Lalla to the temple. Attacking the BJP for its “arrogance” in showing the Lord smaller to Modi (whose image was larger than Ram Lalla’s in the poster), Tharoor said , “You people have neither learnt love nor sacrifice, neither learnt compassion nor care. What part of Ram Charita Manas have you learnt, you who are happy to show yourselves larger than the God?”