BENGALURU, 22 JAN

God does not accept the dramatic worship filled with adharma and inhumane work, said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during the inauguration of Lord Ram temple in Mahadevapura Constituency on Monday. 

Rama Sita Lakshmana Temple, inaugurated by Siddaramaiah, has a 33-foot-high monolithic Anjaneya Swamy idol built by Hirandahalli Sri Rama Temple Trust. “I am not an atheist, but a believer. I have built a temple of Ram in my village. No religion promotes hatred towards other castes and religions. Ram was a sociable person and he once paid heed to the words of a launderer. He went to exile obeying his father’s orders,” Siddaramaiah said. 

“Mahatma Gandhi’s last words were Hey Ram. We worship Gandhiji's Ram and not BJP's Ram. We are all devotees of Ram, but not as BJP says. We will go to Ayodhya,” Siddaramaiah said. 

The Congress leader highlighted peace and equality in society quoting Kuvempu poet. “Kuvempu's wish for Karnataka to be a garden of peace for all races lies in the ideals and personality of Ram. The message of Ramayana and Mahabharata is that man should not hate man,” he said. Siddaramaiah said: “Ram is not someone's private property and it is the property of every devotee.” 

Siddaramaiah accused BJP of trying to seperate Lord Rama from Sita, Lakshmana and Anjaneya as only Lord Rama was installed in Ayodhya. Reiterating his decision to not declare a holiday on Monday despite the pressure from Opposition, he said, “The central gov[1]ernment has declared only a half-day holiday. No holiday has been declared in Delhi, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.”

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday took to X and said that Congress has created Rama Rajya in the State by providing the five guarantees. Shivakumar posted on X: "We realised that through Rama ideology and Hanuman loyalty we have provided the guarantee we promised." He further gave his best wishes for the inauguration of Ram temple in Ayodhya.