Yogi: Covid norms to be strictly followed during ‘bhumi pujan’
Only 5 people, including PM Modi, RSS chief will be on the stage
Ayodhya (UP), Aug. 3: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that Covid19 protocol will be strictly followed during the “bhumi pujan” ceremony for Ram temple and only those invited should come.
“Covid-19 protocol will be strictly followed at the event. As the Prime Minister will be here representing 135 crore people, I appeal that only those who have been invited should visit Ayodhya. The rest should remain at their respective places,” Mr Adityanath said, adding no laxity will be allowed.
As details of the invitation card and guest list were unveiled on Monday, reports said that only five people will be on the stage for the event — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel, chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Mahant Nritya Gopaldas.
The invite, which has an image of the idol of “Ram Lalla” or infant Lord Ram, mentions Mr Modi and three others.
Invites have been sent to some 200 people for the elaborate “Bhumi Pujan” organised on Wednesday in the middle of the nation's coronavirus fight.
The invitations are only for residents of Ayodhya. The first invite went to Iqbal Ansari, one of the Muslim litigants in the Ayodhya case, according to news agency ANI.
Mr Adityanath, who was here to oversee preparations for the August 5
Covid-19 protocol will be strictly followed. As the PM will be here representing 135cr people, I appeal that only those who have been invited should visit Ayodhya. The rest should remain at their respective places. — Yogi Adityanath, UP chief minister
■ Continued from Page 1 occasion for the construction of the temple has come. Don’t allow your arrogance to create obstruction in the way,” Mr Singh tweeted.
The Rajya Sabha MP further said that Jagat Guru Swami Swaroopanandji Maharaj (Shankaraycharya of Dwarka Peeth) had said that August 5 was an inauspicious muhurat for the ground-breaking ceremony of Ram temple. “For the convenience of Modiji this inauspicious muhurat was fixed. This means that Modji is above the Hindu beliefs of thousands of years. Is this Hindutava?” he said.
Claiming that some leaders had tested positive for coronavirus as they had ignored the tenets of the Sanatan Dharma, he tweeted, “Modiji, how many more people you want to send to hospital by laying the foundation stone of the Ram temple. Yogiji, advise Modi. In your presence, the tenets of Sanatan Dharma are being broken. What is compelling you to allow all this to happen?”
“In such a situation, shouldn’t the UP CM and PM be in home quarantine? Are the quarantine rules only for the public?” he added.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mr Chouhan who tested positive for Covid-19 and is recuperating in a private hospital in Bhopal, countered Mr Singh saying, “The very name of Lord Ram makes inauspicious times auspicious”.
“Congress leaders who were denying the existence of Lord Ram have started commenting on the timing of bhumi pujan for Ram temple. Oh Congressmen, merely invoking the name of Lord Ram turns a time auspicious,” Mr Chouhan tweeted.