We got votes in name of Ram when temple was not built ... we in fact ended the reason to ask for votes: Amit Shah

Hitting out at the opposition parties for not attending the historic Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that their decision has hurt religious sentiments across the country.

The BJP had sent invites for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Mandir to several political parties, but a host of parties aligned with the opposition INDIA group had declined to attend.

The Samajwadi Party – the principal opposition in Uttar Pradesh – announced that party supremo Akhilesh Yadav will visit the Ram Mandir at a later date along with members of his family. The Congress and members of the Nehru-Gandhi family also stayed away along with the Trinamool Congress and parties based in the southern states.

Amit Shah asserted that the BJP has created a historic milestone by Inaugurating the Ram Mandir, which was one of the prime promises mentioned in its manifesto. He alleged that the fear of alienating the minority vote bank prompted the opposition to stay away from the event.

“The opposition is worried and the whole country is angry with them because when the Ram Mandir was built peacefully, constitutionally, and Pran Pratishtha was happening, they boycotted it. They did not go to the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram out of fear of annoying the minorities. That is why the whole country is angry with them,” Amit Shah said during an interview with Network18 MD & Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.

The Opposition had questioned the timing of the Ram Mandir ceremony since it was held only a few months ahead of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The Union minister, however, asserted that the BJP is not using the Ram Mandir issue to attract votes during the ongoing Lok Sabha Election 2024.

“We used to get votes in the name of Ram when the temple was not built and we used to say that we will build it. We in fact ended the reason to ask for votes. The opposition is worried and the whole country is angry with them because when the Ram Mandir was built peacefully, constitutionally, and Pran Pratishtha was happening, they boycotted it. They did not go to the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram out of fear of annoying the minorities. That is why the whole country is angry with them,” Shah said.

“We never said that give us votes because we built the Ram temple. The citizens of the country know that these people had kept the issue hanging for seventy years. Modi ji won the case in five years, did the Bhoomi Pujan, and also did the Pran Pratishtha. And now a grand Ram temple that gladdens the entire country is coming up,” he added.

The senior BJP leader also denied that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attempting to appease Muslims in the lower strata of society in an effort to garner minority votes.

“The Prime Minister has not only reached out to the Pasmanda Muslims. He has done it for tribals, Dalits, backward classes, the poor, the farmers, the women and ‘matra shakti’, and the youth as well. That is his work, it is his duty. It is the responsibility of the government to bring those who are lagging behind in the race of development to the same level as everyone else. I don’t see any contradiction in this,” Shah said.