PM Modi to Headline Controversial Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony

Opposition leaders decline invites, criticizing BJP for politicizing religious event ahead of Lok Sabha election.

Overview

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will headline the controversial 'pran pratishtha', or consecration ceremony, of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, weeks before a Lok Sabha election.
The list of invitees for the grand Ram Temple Ayodhya event is long but exclusive, excluding all of the BJP's chief ministers, except for Yogi Adityanath.
Senior opposition leaders, including Congress boss Mallikarjun Kharge, party matriarch Sonia Gandhi, and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, have been invited but will not be present.
Opposition leaders have criticized the BJP for politicizing a religious event and have declined their invites.
The Ram Temple is still being built and is expected to be the centerpiece of the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the April/May general election.