Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have captured Ram temple consecration function, turned it into election event: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi waves to the crowd from his bus during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Kohima, Nagaland on Tuesday. ANI Photo

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said it is difficult for his party's leaders to attend the January 22 Ram temple consecration ceremony as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have turned it into a "political event" centred around Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

His remarks at a press conference during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra Nagaland's Chiephobozou comes days after the Congress top brass declined the invitation to the event at the Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, newswire PTI reported.

"The Ram temple consecration ceremony is a political event centred around the prime minister. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are giving an election flavour to it and that is why it is difficult for us to attend," Gandhi said.

"It is difficult for us to attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony when our principal opponents the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have captured the function and turned it into election event," he said.

On the opposition INDIA alliance, the Congress leader said the alliance will defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The seat sharing discussions among INDIA alliance partners are being carried out amicably, he said.

Also read: Maharashtra minister Sanjay Bansode calls for strengthening of Bharatiya Janata Party-led 'Mahayuti' ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections

"I am confident that small problems within the INDIA alliance will be resolved and we will together defeat the BJP. The issue of seat sharing is being taken up with INDIA alliance allies. Talks are going quite well," Gandhi said. He asserted that the opposition alliance will win the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together.

The yatra reached Nagaland on Monday evening after it began in Thoubal in Manipur on January 14.

The march will pass through 100 Lok Sabha constituencies in 15 states, traversing 6,713 km, mostly in buses but also on foot, and culminate in Mumbai on March 20 or 21. (With inputs from PTI)