No change in Bhoomi Pujan schedule; PM to attend as planned, says PMO
New Delhi: After Union Home minister Amit Shah tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and was admitted to a hospital, the Prime Minister's Office said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not need to go into quarantine as all meetings and discussions with Shah were held with more than adequate measures of social distancing and precautions in place.
News of Shah testing positive had raised doubts over whether the Bhoomi Pujan of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya would be postponed but sources in the know have said the ceremony will continue as scheduled and the Prime Minister will be attending it as planned. They added that no other minister will be attending the event.
The temple and local administration in Ayodhya have decided to continue with the foundation-laying ceremony on August 5 even as reports of an assistant priest and policemen having tested COVID-19 positive came in last week.
Along with Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, 150-200 invitees are expected to join the religious jamboree, sources said.
However, the list is yet to be finalised. While both L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi had till last week claimed they were yet to receive an invitation, it has been learnt that they will be attending the event via video conferencing.
Trust spokespersons did not give details on why August 5 is particularly auspicious, especially at a time when the pandemic is raging and regulations issued by the Disaster Management Authority and MHA prohibit religious and other large social gatherings.
Sources also mentioned that Defence Minister and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh, another former Chief Minister of the state Kalyan Singh have been invited.
Meanwhile, the Unlock 3 rules also mention that "persons over the age of 65 are advised to stay at home except for essential and health purposes." Notably, among the invitees, all three — Modi, Rajnath and Bhagwat are 69.
Last week, Pradeep Das, an assistant priest of Mahant Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the makeshift Ram Lalla temple tested positive. Mahant, who had mild symptoms of cough and cold, tested negative and had been asked to self-isolate. All those involved in the temple proceedings who had tested positive have been hospitalised.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will accompany the Prime Minister. Other state Cabinet ministers are also likely to be present.
Interestingly, August 5 also marks the first anniversary of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special Constitutional status, a long-standing demand of the Sangh and one that pioneers the Ram temple movement over decades. Experts hence feel that by linking these two events, a clear political message is being sent out. Reportedly, the two recommended dates of August 3 and 5 have been set as the preferred dates for a grand ceremony as the members of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust described these as "auspicious" dates.
