Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has joined the list of Congress leaders expressing support for the Ram temple, to be consecrated in Ayodhya on January 22, by underlining how Ram temples had been built in the state in the past.

While the Congress still doesn’t have a united voice on whether its senior leaders should participate in the temple’s consecration, Siddaramaiah on Sunday said:
“We are very happy that it (Ram temple) is being inaugurated.”

His surprise reaction came during a brief interaction with reporters after he had addressed the Bangalore Press Club’s annual award ceremony here late on Sunday. The chief minister said he too had chanted Ram bhajans in the past.

Siddaramaiah’s reaction is being seen as a damage-control exercise after the state minister for planning and statistics, D. Sudhakar, called the temple consecration a “stunt” to garner votes ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Siddaramaiah said: “We are not against Ayodhya.... (We are ) not against Ram Mandir. We are for Ram Mandir.”

He went on: “Didn’t we construct Ram temples in our villages? Don’t we sing (Ram) bhajans in our villages?... I have also gone for bhajans.”

The chief minister added: “They are now constructing a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. We are very happy. We are very happy that it is being inaugurated.”

While Siddaramaiah is not among the invitees to the temple consecration ceremony, he had surprised everyone recently by reaffirming that he too was a Hindu who sang bhajans in praise of Ram. He had lashed out at the BJP and its Sangh Parivar allies for allegedly claiming ownership of Ram and the temple.

“Don’t we do puja for Sri Rama? Are they the only ones who do puja? Didn’t we build Ram temples in our villages and don’t we sing bhajans (in praise of Ram)?” Siddaramaiah had told a public event.

While AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi have been invited to the consecration, the party has yet to take a call on whether they should attend the event.

Sudhakar had on Sunday accused the BJP of projecting the temple inauguration like it did with the 2019 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 soldiers.

“All this is a stunt. We know how they projected Pulwama (terror attack). Now they are showing the photo of Rama. The people were made fools twice. I am confident they won’t be fooled for a third time,” the minister said.

“The Ram temple is being consecrated ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. I had also donated bricks (for the temple). Lord Rama belongs to everyone. The inauguration of the temple is a gimmick in time of the election,” Sudhakar had said.

Asked if he meant that the temple was being inaugurated keeping the elections in mind, Sudhakar said: “Isn’t that a known fact? Yes, isn’t this a gimmick ahead of the elections?”

But he added that he too had donated bricks and money for the temple.

Such disparate voices have been heard in other states as well. Veteran Congress leader and former state president in Kerala, V.M. Sudheeran, didn’t mince words when he said the party high command should have rejected the invitations outright.

Sudheeran had on Sunday said the party “should end this soft Hindutva and uphold the secular principles of Nehru and Indira Gandhi” and should have “outrightly rejected” the invitation to attend the consecration.