Ayodhya Ram Mandir ceremony: 'I will never allow...,' says Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "doing a gimmick" before the Lok Sabha Elections. She said, "Yesterday I was asked about Ram Mandir... I believe in a festival which takes everyone together, talks about everyone..." In a veiled attack on the BJP, over "disregarding people of other communities".

She said, "Do whatever you want, you are doing a gimmick before the elections, do it, I have no problem but disregarding people of other communities is not right." "I will never allow discrimination between Hindus and Muslims as long as I live...," Banerjee was quoted by ANI as saying on Tuesday.

She was addressing a public programme at Joynagar in South 24 Parganas district. Meanwhile, she was quoted by PTI as saying, "The BJP is doing it (Ram Mandir inauguration) under court instruction but doing it before Lok Sabha polls as a gimmick show." She added, "I don't believe in dividing people on religious lines." The will be inaugurated on January 22, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and more than 6,000 people expected to attend the 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony.

Ahead of the grand 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of the Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, Union Minister and Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy said that no major village will be left across the nation where the Pran Pratishtha ceremony will not be watched live. Vedic rituals for the of (infant Lord Ram) in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony.

A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahotsav. Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha Elections are scheduled to take place this year. The Election Commission is yet to announce the dates for the polls.

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