"Maryada Purshottam Shri Ram is a symbol of faith and devotion. Ram bhakts will be attending the ceremony in large numbers through which the happiness will reach me. After January 22, the darshan of Ram Lalla will be easy. I am planning to visit Ayodhya and will also offer prayers to Ram Lalla. By that time, the temple construction will also be complete," Sharad Pawar said.

The BJP has been targeting the Congress and other constituents of the INDIA opposition bloc that are keeping away from the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22. Sharad Pawar's NCP is a member of the grouping.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the Ram temple event has been made into a "Narendra Modi and RSS-BJP function" with an "election flavour".

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 BJP and the RSS have turned it into a “political event” centred around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the PTI had reported.

His remarks at a press conference during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here comes days after the Congress top brass declined the invitation to the event at the Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. “The Ram temple consecration ceremony is a political event centred around the prime minister. The BJP and the RSS are giving an election flavour to it and that is why it is difficult for us to attend,” Rahul Gandhi said, as per the PTI.

“It is difficult for us to attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony when our principal opponents the BJP and the RSS have captured the function and turned it into election event,” he said. On the opposition INDIA bloc, the Congress leader said the alliance will defeat the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The seat sharing discussions among INDIA bloc partners are being carried out amicably, he said.

(with PTI inputs)