Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar turned down the invitation to the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya on January 22 and said that he will visit for darshan after the event and once the construction is complete.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that all the members of the opposition's INDIA bloc agreed to the proposal that the alliance, formed to take on the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, should be headed by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
A virtual meeting of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc leaders began on Saturday afternoon to review seat-sharing agenda, participation in Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and other matters related to the alliance.
"Poornima Kothari, the sister of Ram and Sharad Kothari, has received the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony... She will attend the ceremony... We have arranged a camp near the Ram Temple in Ayodhya where we will provide refreshments for 25000 people. This is fortunate for us..."
Ram Sharad Smriti Sangh, established in the memory of the Kothari brothers who were shot in 1990 during the Ram Temple movement in Ayodhya, will provide refreshments for 25,000 people in Ayodhya on January 22.
"He (Narendra Modi) is the Prime Minister of our country and if anyone from any other country holding any position makes such comments on our PM, we won't accept it," Pawar said.
"I have only one suggestion for the Maharashtra government. That is, the Maharashtra government will take an appropriate decision based on the Supreme Court's order," the veteran politician said.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Sharad Sharma on Friday said that the agitation for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was bigger than the movement for the country's independence in 1947.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar faction leader Jitendra Awhad has been booked at a police station here over his controversial remarks on Lord Ram, police said on Friday.