'Ashamed of one's own culture…': PM Modi takes a swipe at Congress after Ayodhya snub

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an oblique swipe at the Congress on Sunday for skipping the Ayodhya Ram Mandir pran pratishtha ceremony. The remarks came weeks after key Opposition leaders declined invites from the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Trust. A statue of Ram Lalla was enthroned in the sanctum-sanctorum newly constructed temple on January 22 as thousands watched.

“Unfortunately, those in power for a long time after Independence did not understand the importance of our holy sites. They made a trend out of the practice of being ashamed of one's own culture and past for political gains,” Modi said.

Senior Congress leaders — Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury — had refused to attend the grand event in Ayodhya last month. The party insisted that "religion was a personal matter" and accused the BJP of inaugurating an "incomplete" temple for electoral gain.

The snub had prompted outrage from several quarters with the BJP accusing the Opposition of of insulting the country's Sanatan culture.

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The remarks from PM Modi came during an event in Guwahati to inaugurate projects worth ₹11,599 crore.

“After the grand event in Ayodhya, I have now here at the Dwar of Mother Kamakhya. Today I had the privilege of laying the foundation stone of the Maa Kamakhya Divya Pariyojana Project here. One senses the divinity of this holy site when one pays a visit to the Kamakhya Temple. When it is completed, the project will fill the devotees of Maa Kamakhya from all over the country and the world with immense joy,” Modi added.

The PM also laid the foundation stone for the development of infrastructure of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital and a medical college at Karimganj.

(With inputs from agencies)