Lucknow/Saharanpur,

25 Nov (HS): Awadhesh Prasad, the Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Faizabad, said

on Tuesday that he was not invited to the flag-hoisting ceremony at Ayodhya's

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi shrine. The BJP

dismissed the charge as purely political. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi

raised the Dharm Dhwaj atop the Ram Mandir in front of RSS chief

Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Anandiben

Patel, and thousands of saints, tribal representatives, devotees, and visitors.

Prasad stated on social media that he was not

invited because of his Dalit status. If I was not invited to the flag-hoisting

ceremony in Ram Lalla's court because I am a Dalit, this does not reflect Ram's

dignity, but rather someone's narrow perspective. Ram is for everybody. My quest is not for a post or an invitation,

but for respect, equality, and the Constitution, he stated on X.

On

Monday, he stated that he had yet to receive an invitation. If I receive the invitation, I will abandon

everything and go barefoot. Supporting Prasad, Congress MP Imran Masood stated

in Saharanpur that removing the local MP from the prime minister's schedule was

wrong, and that Prasad's caste may have been the cause. It would be terribly

bad if the Prime Minister came but the local MP was not invited. Masood stated that his Dalit status seemed to

have been the reason. The BJP condemned these claims. Harishchandra Srivastava, the party's

spokesperson, called the claims unfounded and solely political.

If

the Ayodhya MP genuinely loved Lord Ram, he would have joined the people of

Ayodhya in the ceremony when the prime minister unfurled the sacred flag, he

claimed. Srivastava accused the SP of holding an anti-Ram temple position. The

SP's prior involvement with the Ram Temple is widely documented. These claims reflect the party's

dissatisfaction, he claimed. SP politicians have not visited the Ram temple,

despite the fact that 45 crore pilgrims have visited Ayodhya since its

construction began, according to the BJP leader. Prasad

beat BJP's two-term MP and temple movement veteran Lallu Singh in the 2024 Lok

Sabha elections, stopping him from achieving a hat-trick.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi