'People want to do business in the name of the Kedarnath temple.'
"Do you remember that 'kar sevaks' were shot in Ayodhya and bodies were thrown into the Saryu," he said referring to a 1990 incident during the SP regime while addressing a rally at Government Inter College in Faizabad.
Amid the huge rush of devotees in Ayodhya, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a meeting with officials in Lucknow to review the steps taken for crowd management and advised VIPs planning to visit the temple to inform the authorities in advance.
Here is the chronology of events in the Ayodhya Ram temple issue.
Anupam Kher shared a picture with megastar Rajinikanth when they met in Ayodhya.
Tamil Nadu's Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has reacted to Andhra Pradesh counterpart Pawan Kalyan's out-of-turn taunts with a one-liner, 'Let's wait', and thereby hangs a tale, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
North India is convulsed with spiritual excitement over the pran pratishta at the Ram temple. But what do folks in Tamil Nadu think about the events in Ayodhya?
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
'Bharat is the core value that has to be lived by and if you deny it, then the people will discard you.'
"I do not think the idea of turning India into a 'Hindu Rashtra' is appropriate," Sen, 90, said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appeared to make a pitch in the assembly for a temple where a mosque stands now in Mathura, saying that Krishna Kanhaiya wouldn't have it any other way.
He also said that now everyone should listen to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's advice to shun habit of fighting on small disputes.
Reacting to the results, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that in the by-elections held on 13 seats in seven states, the people of the country have given their support to the INDIA bloc.
He also accused the Congress of questioning the existence of Ram, evoking a sharp reaction from the Opposition benches.
The BJP had registered a one-sided victory on all the 17 SC-reserved seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But in 2019, out of these 17 seats, it lost Nagina and Lalganj seats to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
'We should not underestimate the power of Hindutva.'
Is 2024 a done deal for the BJP? It was a done deal five years ago itself, but it did not have a guarantee.
Now, with the temple consecration, it seems to have acquired a Ramji Ki Guarantee, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'Those who opposed Ram, none of them was given power. Even all of them together were made number two. God's justice is true and enjoyable'
Narendra Modi has proved through execution of this event in Ayodhya that amongst all his contemporaries in politics he knows ordinary Indians like none other, notes Sheela Bhatt.
The arrested belong to an outfit called the 'Hindu Yodha Sangathan', and the leader of the group is a history-sheeter with four criminal cases registered against him, police said.
Destiny had decided that a grand temple of Lord Ram will be built in Ayodhya and it chose Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this, BJP stalwart L K Advani has said in an article to be published in a special edition of the Rashtra Dharma magazine next week.
Hindu follows the path of truth. Hindutva robs under the guise of religion, Rahul Gandhi said.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the "incomplete" temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS.
'Besides Ayodhya, the BJP lost in nine other constituencies with a Ramayana imprint; it tasted success only in Thrissur.' 'In Rameswaram, K Navaskani of the Indian Union Muslim League won with a 44% voteshare in a 84% Hindu constituency.' 'In the 21 seats in the Ayodhya and Varanasi regions, both crucial to the Hindutva project, the BJP won just 7.' 'It won just 3 out of 12 seats around Modi's constituency,' points out Krishna Prasad.
'No COVID-19 positive person will be allowed when the bhoomi pujan happens on August 5 in Prime Minister Modi's presence.'
'People don't know about the immense pressures that come with this position -- every decision a judge takes affects real people and their lives.' 'This is not a job that one can take lightly.' A
'I speak after asking Ram Lalla. I spoke with Ram Lalla's inspiration'
Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com captures glimpses of the activity around the Ram temple on his iPhone 14 Pro.
Ayodhya is decked up for the bhoomi pujan that will be attended at the Ram Janmabhoomi by 175 people, who figure in a select guest list of seers and politicians topped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'They are from the north, east, west, south and northeast part of India. They will be the 'mukhya yajmaan' (main hosts)'
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
Within minutes of Gohil's announcement of the Congress' action, Der called a press conference at his residence, saying he was not aware when he was suspended by the party and announced he will join the BJP at its state headquarters 'Kamalam' in Gandhinagar on Tuesday.
Speaking at a virtual meeting, which was also attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Modi described Ayodhya as a city that is etched in the cultural consciousness of every Indian.
Many people have received fake messages related to VIP invitations, donation drives and prasaad of the mega event.
The BJP enters challenging times where it has been given a task to hold onto the values of Ram in running the country as defined by Narendra Modi in Ayodhya, notes Sheela Bhatt.
The five-day event, to appraise and train RSS volunteers on how to propagate nationalism and promote Swadeshi along with other such issues among the masses, is held every fifth year in different cities and states of the country.
Later, Pratibha Singh said she and her son Vikramaditya Singh have received a joint invitation and she is yet to take a call on attending the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22.
Besides, various representatives of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and their allies are also aiding in hand-delivering the invitations.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
The ancient Shiv Mandir is located at Bisrakh village, believed to be the birthplace of Ravana, the antagonist to the hero of Lord Ram in the epic Ramayana.
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