BJP-led NDA celebrates Ram temple consecration in Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad constituency

The BJP-led NDA on Monday celebrated the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya with grand festivities in Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, along with NDA state convenor Thushar Vellappally and their workers, watched the live telecast of the ceremony from the Lord Ganesh temple at Sultan Bathery in the hill district.

Javadekar said that thousands of people watched the live telecast at 140 temples in Wayanad.

He claimed that the increased participation of people in Wayanad was a response to Gandhi and his party, who declined the invitation to the Ayodhya ceremony.

"Rahul Gandhi's party leaders rejected the invitation, but the people of his constituency visited temples to watch the live ceremony of the Ram Temple consecration," he told PTI.

Vellappally, the NDA candidate in Wayanad during the 2019 election, is the leader of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), an ally of the BJP in Kerala.

Earlier, BJP sources indicated that the celebrations at Wayanad temples aimed to send a nationwide message to the Congress party and its leadership, which declined the invitation to attend the temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.