Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad has said that he was not invited to the flag-hoisting ceremony held at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya. He claimed that he was excluded because he belongs to the Dalit community. His remarks have been supported by a Congress MP, who also said that Prasad was ignored due to his caste. The BJP has rejected these allegations as baseless.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the saffron flag on the temple’s shikhar on Tuesday in the presence of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Anandiben Patel, saints, tribal groups and many devotees. On the same day, Awadhesh Prasad wrote on X that he had not been invited. He said, “I was not called to the event for installing the religious flag because I come from a Dalit society. This is not Ram’s dignity. It shows someone’s narrow thinking. Ram belongs to everyone. My fight is not for any post or invitation, it is for respect, equality and the dignity of the Constitution.”
A day earlier, Prasad had also posted that he had not received any invitation and added, “If I get the invitation, I will leave all my work and go there barefoot.”
The BJP dismissed his allegations. Party spokesperson Harishchandra Shrivastava said the charges were purely political. He said, “The allegations are completely false. If Awadhesh Prasad truly had devotion for Lord Ram, he would have attended the programme with the people of Ayodhya when the Prime Minister hoisted the flag.”
