Uma Bharti, a veteran BJP leader and one of the key faces of Ram Temple movement in India, has said that she would travel to Ayodhya but avoid the groundbreaking event on Wednesday as a precaution against the coronavirus.
Uma Bharti, a veteran BJP leader and one of the key faces of Ram Temple movement in India, has said that she would travel to Ayodhya but avoid the groundbreaking event on Wednesday as a precaution against the coronavirus. She would visit the site of the temple only after the event was over, she said.
Voicing her concerns through her Twitter handle this morning, Bharti said she was worried about people attending the grand function after HM Amit Shah and many top leaders tested positive for coronavirus. Home Minister Amit Shah had informed on Sunday evening that he had tested positive for coronavirus.
“When I heard about Amit Shah and other BJP leaders testing positive I was worried about those attending the Ayodhya event, especially PM Modi,” Uma Bharti tweeted.
Uma Bharti also said that she would be traveling from Bhopal to Uttar Pradesh by train and has decided to skip the main event in Ayodhya to protect PM Modi and “thousands” of others at the site of the temple. She said she would be at another spot on the banks of the river Saryu at the time of “Bhoomi Pujan”.
“I will leave Bhopal this evening and until I reach Ayodhya tomorrow evening, I may be exposed to the infection. In this situation, I will stay away from the place where PM Modi and others will be present. I will reach there only after everyone has left the spot,” the BJP stalwart tweeted, adding that she has also informed senior officials connected to the Ram temple event and also the Prime Minister’s office that she should be kept out of the guest list.
According to a report by NDTV, the BJP stalwarts and leading figures of Ram Janmabhoomi movement, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, will not visit Ayodhya for the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a temple there. The sources also told NDTV that the two leaders will instead attend the August 5 event via videoconferencing.
The invites were sent to both leaders via phone call by the trust founded to oversee the construction. General Secretary of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will also be sending an invitation to both leaders. The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was set up by the Supreme Court after its landmark verdict in November last year.
LK Advani, former Dy. PM and main face of the movement to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya in the 1990s, was questioned last week by a special CBI court in Lucknow via video link to answer questions relating to the Babri mosque’s demolition. Mr. Advani is one of the accused in the case and was asked more than 100 questions over four-and-a-half hours. According to his lawyer, Mr. Advani has denied all charges.
Mr. Advani and other leaders like Mr. Joshi, Uma Bharti, and Kalyan Singh made incendiary speeches from a dais close to the mosque, which led to the crowd demolishing the mosque, the CBI has said.
Mr. Joshi, also denying the accusations against him, said that those who had deposed against him done so for political reasons and that all allegations against him were false.
Uma Bharti was also questioned by the special court in the case. Though she has declared that the judgment in the hugely contentious case did not matter to her.
“I was called by the court for my statement and I have told the court what was true. It does not matter to me what the judgment will be. If I am sent to the gallows, I will be blessed,” Bharti told NDTV.
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