“The Congress is in a fix over attending Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya. Its prospects will suffer both ways, if its leaders attend the inauguration or if they don’t,” Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said in Hubballi on Sunday.
“We have cordially invited some Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, to the inauguration. But the Congress is not sure whether they should attend it. If they attend, they tend to lose minority votes and if they do not come, they will lose the votes of the majority,” Mr. Joshi told journalists.
“It is the same party that had questioned the existence of Lord Ram for electoral gains. Now, it is suffering from confusion. We are not playing politics over the issue. Attending the Ram Mandir inaugurations is not playing politics,” he said.
He said that there is no political significance to the recent meeting between him and the former Deputy Chief Minister K.S. Eshwarappa as it was only a cordial visit. “It is true that his son, K.E. Kantesh, is an aspirant for the Lok Sabha ticket from Haveri. However, this is not a decision to be taken by us. The party’s national leaders will decide on it,” he said.
Without taking the name of BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, he said that no leader should speak against the party as it is not acceptable.
He criticised the appointment of senior Congress leaders R.V. Deshpande, Basavaraj Rayaraddi and B.R. Patil to positions with Cabinet rank. “It has been proved now that those who criticise the Chief Minister [Siddaramaiah] get plum posts. If anyone wants such posts, they should criticise the Chief Minister now,” he said.
