Guwahati, Jan 16 (IANS): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asserted on Tuesday that the Congress was the one who, by its boycott, has turned the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya into a political occasion.

According to Sarma, the initiative is seen by some as the “triumph of Indian civilisation”. He claimed that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have turned the Ram Mandir event into a political one because of their anti-Hindu stand.

The Chief Minister claimed, “Rahul and Sonia Gandhi are politicising it due to their anti-Hindu beliefs. Only the Congress party was politicising what is normally seen as an achievement of Indian civilisation.” His remarks came only hours after Rahul Gandhi claimed in Nagaland that the BJP and the RSS had transformed the ceremony on January 22 into a “political event” centered around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would be attending. As a result, it is difficult for the leaders of his party to attend.

"It would not have had any political flavour if Rahul Gandhi had gone there. We let you go so that it doesn't become a political event,” Sarma told reporters here.

The consecration ceremony has been "respectfully declined" by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other key leaders, who blamed the BJP for turning it into a "political project" for electoral benefits. “Everyone will go, receive Ram Lalla's darshan, and then come back. Nobody will, in my opinion, make a political or anti-Congress speech. Others see it as an achievement of Indian civilisation,” Sarma said.