Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Amitabh Bachchan among 7,000 invited for Ram temple consecration
Ayodhya, Dec 6: The Ram temple trust has invited 7,000 people including cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, and billionaire industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani to the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, sources said on Wednesday.
Actors Arun Govil and Dipika Chikhlia, who played the roles of Lord Ram in the famous TV serial "Ramayan", have also been invited to the ceremony that will be held on January 22, 2024.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already been invited.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has sent invitations to 7,000 people, including 3,000 VVIPs, for the consecration. The families of kar sevaks killed in the police firing in Ayodhya will also be invited to the ceremony, the sources said.
Among the VVIPs are RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Yoga guru Ramdev, industrialists Mukesh Ambai, Ratan Tata and Gautam Adani, they said.
The trust has also invited 4,000 seers from across the country.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai said, "Efforts are also being made to invite one representative each from 50 countries for the consecration ceremony."
"Family members of the 50 kar sevaks who lost their lives during the Ram temple movement have also been invited. Invitations have also been sent to judges, scientists, writers and poets," he said.
Besides, saints, priests, shankaracharyas, religious leaders, former civil servants, retired Army officers, lawyers, musicians and Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardees have been invited.
VHP spokesperson Sharad Sharma said, "We have also invited journalists who supported the Ram temple movement through their newspapers, writings and reporting. Without them, this struggle for the Ram temple would have been incomplete."
VVIPs will get entry through bar code passes.
"Out of the 7,000 invitees, about 4,000 will be religious leaders from across the country and the remaining 3,000 will be VVIPs from different areas. A registration link will be shared with the invitees ahead of the ceremony. Once they register, a bar code will be generated and it will serve as the entry pass," Sharma said.
Champat Rai, secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said, "Ramlala will be seated in the Ram temple as a 5-year-old boy. For this, three idols are being carved from two rocks -- one each from Karnataka and Rajasthan."
"The idols are 90 per cent ready and are being given the final touches. The most attractive idol will be selected for the consecration," said Champat Rai.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'New drama': BJP on AAP sharing pics of Delhi CM Atishi working amid 'empty' cartons
New Delhi, Oct 10: After the AAP shared images on Thursday showing Delhi Chief Minister Atishi signing files at her Kalkaji residence surrounded by cartons, BJP leaders accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of indulging in "drama" and playing the "victim card" over the Flagstaff Road bungalow row to gain sympathy.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) shared the images on X a day after claiming that Atishi was made to "forcibly vacate" the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow in the national capital "meant for chief ministers".
Contrary to what the AAP is trying to project, the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow is not the official residence of the Delhi chief minister, said Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva.
"It is like other government bungalows where Arvind Kejriwal lived as the chief minister," Sachdeva said as he challenged the AAP government to prove that the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow in the Civil Lines area was "earmarked" as the official residence of the chief minister.
"We have no objections if Atishi wants to live there. But it must be done in accordance with the rules," Sachdeva said.
Accusing Atishi of playing the "victim card", Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said, "The photos of Atishi working amid empty boxes is the Aam Aadmi Party's new drama."
Gupta, who on Thursday visited the AB-17 bungalow on Mathura Road, allotted to Atishi last year after she became a minister, said, "She has a bungalow allotted in her name on Mathura Road that was earlier used by Sheila Dikshit for 10 years when she was the chief minister of Delhi."
"Also, Aitishi can work from her office at the Delhi Secretariat, but she is only making a futile attempt to play the victim card by posing with empty boxes," Gupta alleged.
The AAP has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to "usurp" the "chief minister's bungalow" despite not being in power in Delhi for 27 years.
The BJP earlier ran a campaign against Kejriwal alleging corruption in the reconstruction of the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow when he was the chief minister, coining the term "sheesh mahal" while citing the "pricey" interiors and fixtures in the house.
Sachdeva alleged that since Kejriwal does not want the "corruption of sheesh mahal" to get exposed, the AAP is "desperate" to take possession of the Flagstaff Road bungalow.
