Samajwadi party General Secretary and MLA Shivpal Singh Yadav. File
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA
Samajwadi Party (SP) General Secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav on Wednesday rejected the invitation accorded by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana to the principal Opposition party MLAs for visiting the Ram temple in Ayodhya on February 11 along with the Bharatiya Janata Party legislators. Mr. Yadav asked the party to make separate arrangements for a visit instead.
“We [MLAs] did not get an invitation for attending the January 22 consecration ceremony. As such there is no point going with the BJP MLAs now. I had asked for January 22 invite. Even our Speaker was not invited for the consecration ceremony. We will request our party president and leader of Opposition Akhilesh ji to make distinct arrangements for us [SP MLAs] for the Ayodhya visit,” Mr. Yadav, who represents Jaswantnagar, said.
On February 6, Assembly Speaker Mahana invited all the MLAs and Ministers in U.P. for a tour of the newly inaugurated Ram temple in Ayodhya on February 11.
“I invite you all for the Ayodhya darshan. We will leave from Lucknow to Ayodhya on February 11 [Sunday] by bus and are likely to return on the same day. I will myself go by bus. The MLAs can also take their spouses along with them,” the Assembly Speaker had said.
When Mr. Mahana declared the schedule for the Ayodhya visit, SP MLA from Sambhal Assembly segment, Iqbal Mahmood, pushed for a visit to the land allocated for the mosque to be built in Ayodhya. The Assembly Speaker replied that post the construction of the mosque if the trust invites MLAs, then he would have no objection. The construction of the proposed mosque in Ayodhya, as mandated by the Supreme Court will take place in Dhannipur village at an allocated five-acre land.
Mr. Mahana added that the MLAs are expected to reach the Assembly premises at 8 a.m. in the morning and before visiting the newly inaugurated temple, they will visit the Hanumangarhi temple and leave Ayodhya for Lucknow at 3 p.m.
