Ayodhya, Dec 29 (IANS): Former BJP MP Ram Vilas Vedanti, who was an accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case in 1992, has urged BJP veteran and former Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani to attend the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
Vedanti said the Yogi government must make arrangements for Advani’s visit, so that he could witness the grand temple and idol of Shri Ram at the sanctum sanctorum.
The Temple Trust has already sent an invite to Advani, however, there were doubts over him attending the event because of his ill health.
Advani became one of the torchbearers of the final phase of the temple movement when he started his Rath Yatra from Somnath to mobilise support for Ram Temple in September 1990.
“Advani had made a huge contribution to awakening Hindutva in the Ram Mandir movement through his Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has invited him for the consecration ceremony. We welcome it. I want that the UP government, especially Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, should make arrangements to bring Advani to the sanctum sanctorum at the time when Ram Lalla is being seated there,” Vedanti said.
“Atal, Advani and Joshi have contributed a lot for BJP to reach where it is now. Advani’s contribution to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement is huge. He should witness Ram Lalla enthroned in his temple. This is not just the desire of the country but of Hindus across the globe,” he said.
Vedanti was one of the 32 accused in Babri Masjid demolition, including Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh and was acquitted by the CBI court in September 2020.
He won from Machhlishahr parliamentary seat in 1996 and Pratapgarh in 1998.
Vedanti was the working president of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas which the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had set up for the construction of Ram Temple during the temple movement.
After the SC verdict in 2019, the Centre set up Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to oversee the construction work, with Nritya Gopal Das as its chairman and Champat Rai its secretary.