The Congress today declared that it would skip the massive inauguration ceremony being planned for the Ayodhya Ram Temple, saying it was a “political project” of the BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The party said its leaders — party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, his predecessor Sonia Gandhi and the party’s Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury — who received the invitation, have declined.

“Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain,” read a statement from senior party leader Jairam Ramesh.

“While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event,” he added.

The party’s refusal to attend the high-profile event is expected to become the latest flashpoint between the Congress and the BJP ahead of the general election. For the BJP, which traditionally accuses the Congress of playing to minority sentiments — it is expected to be political gold.

Several Opposition parties, including the Left and Trinamool Congress, have made it clear that they would skip the event as well, providing ammunition to the BJP.

The Samajwadi Party is undecided — while the party has turned down the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s invite, its MLAs are keen on going. Sharad Pawar said he would not need an invite and go there as and when it is “destined”.  

Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena UBT is yet to get an invite.

The building of the temple had been the centrepiece of the BJP’s political plank and its promise had contributed to the party’s meteoric rise in the 1990s.  

The January 22 inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attended by political leaders, industrialists, actors and other prominent personalities.  The event — which was preceded by the inauguration of an international airport and the redeveloped railway station in the area– is generating huge interest.

The refurbished temple town is getting ready to host thousands on the big day, during which schools and colleges across Uttar Pradesh will remain shut. The event will be telecast live across the country and many places abroad.

The game, set and match in Maharashtra went in favour of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde today as Speaker Rahul Narwekar declared that his faction was the “real Shiv Sena” and the MLAs of his camp cannot be disqualified. Uddhav Thackeray did not have the power to remove Eknath Shinde from Shiv Sena and the copy of the party constitution he produced is not with the Election Commission, Mr Narwekar said, while delivering his verdict on disqualification petitions pending for since June last year. The disqualification petitions from both camps, though, were dismissed by the Speaker.

The petitions were filed when the Shiv Sena split and Eknath Shinde, joined hands with the BJP, formed government in Maharashtra, unseating then Chief Minister and Sena chief Mr Thackeray.

Mr Narwekar based his decisions on the version of the constitution available with the Election Commission, saying it will form the basis of deciding on the leadership structure and from there, he would conclude which faction of the Shiv Sena should be considered the real party.

This version, he said, was not the one submitted by Mr Thackeray in 2018, but the one that was there since 1999 and the one the Shinde faction was citing. Under that, it was clear that all the points were in favour of the Chief Minister, Mr Narwekar.

The implication of the decision was that the whip issued by his faction stands and in a huge setback to the Thackeray faction, the MLAs who supported him, stood a chance of being disqualified. The list had 14 of the 16 MLAs supporting Uddhav Thackeray.

Mr Narwekar’s decision came after much prodding from the Supreme Court, which during the last hearing gave the January 10 deadline.

In July last year, Mr Narwekar, as the newly elected Speaker, had appointed Bharat Gogawale of the Eknath Shinde faction as the whip, removing Sunil Prabhu, who belonged to the Thackeray faction. He stuck to that decision today, even though it was held bad in law.

Back then, Mr Narwekar had argued that it was because Mr Gogawale was appointed by the legislature party. But the heart of the matter was which faction was the real Shiv Sena, he had said.

“The (Supreme) court has never said that the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray is the political party which actually represents the Shiv Sena or it is the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde,” he had said, pointing out that it was only he who could take that decision.

Hrithik Roshan turned a year older today. Warm wishes came pouring in for the star on his birthday. Amidst all the sweet posts, his girlfriend, actor and musician Saba Azad’s romantic birthday wish stands out.

Saba Azad took to her social media handle to share a video to wish Hrithik Roshan on his 50th birthday. The black-and-white video sees the two standing on a balcony. The two look in the camera before locking lips in the short clip.

Check it out here:

Saba captioned the post, “50 whirls around the sun and what a beautiful ride you’ve had, here’s to choosing love every day the way you do for another 100. Happy birthday my Love. You are the light.”

Hrithik Roshan and Saba Azad often make headlines when they are seen together. Recently, they made a joint appearance at the premier night of The Archies. 

On the work front, Hrithik will next be seen in Fighter with Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor and more. Meanwhile, Saba was last seen in the mini-series Who’s Your Gynac.