‘Ultimately, we are all Hindus’: DK Shivakumar on Karnataka ordering special pujas to mark Ram Temple inauguration

Despite the Congress’ central leadership dragging its feet on spelling out its stand on attending the Ram Temple inauguration on January 22, the Karnataka government has gone ahead and instructed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to arrange special pujas at all state-run temples on the day of the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

Defending the Karnataka government’s decision, senior Congress leader and Deputy CM of the state, DK Shivakumar, said on Monday that “ultimately we are all Hindus”. He was speaking to reporters during his visit to Kerala to attend the Ramachandran Foundation award ceremony.

Shivakumar also expressed confidence that the AICC, the top decision-making body of the Congress party, would soon arrive at an appropriate stand on the Ram Temple inauguration issue. He further said that the Ram Temple is not private property and that religion and symbols do not belong to any individual.

“They (BJP) are picking and choosing leaders. There are so many leaders and chief ministers in the country. It is not a private property. It is public property. Every religion and symbol does not belong to any individual,” the Karnataka Deputy CM said, referring to the invitations being sent out by the Ram Temple Trust for the consecration ceremony.

Leaders from the Congress to have received the invitation include Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The party is yet to spell out its stand on whether any of these top leaders will attend the event on January 22.

As part of the celebrations in Karnataka, special pujas will be held at the same time when the consecration ceremony is held in Ayodhya, just after noon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat are expected to address the temple’s inauguration function.

The special pujas in Karnataka will be held not only in Ram temples but all temples, according to Muzrai Minister Ramalinga Reddy. Karnataka has 34,563 temples under the HR & CE Department which are classified based on the annual income generated by the temples. There are 201 category ‘A’ temples, whose annual income exceeds Rs 25 lakh and 139 category ‘B’ temples with income between Rs 5 lakh and 25 lakh. In the other 34,223 temples, the annual income is below Rs 5 lakh.