Uma Bharti Says Won’t Attend Bhoomi Pujan in Ayodhya After Amit Shah, UP BJP Leaders Test Positive For Coronavirus

The senior BJP leader said this was because while she will indeed travel to Ayodhya, she was worried that she would infect Prime Minister Narendra Modi if she contracts the infection during her journey from Bhopal to Ayodhya.

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti, among those invited to attend the bhoomi pujan event of the Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya on August 5, on Monday announced that she won’t attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the temple.

The reason, she said, was that since hearing that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several leaders of the Uttar Pradesh BJP have tested positive for coronavirus, she was worried about the health of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will attend the ceremony.

However, she added that she will travel to Ayodhya and, during the muhurat of the ceremony, spend her time on the banks of river Saryu, which passes through the temple town.

In a series of tweets in Hindi today, she said, “Since yesterday, when I heard that Mr. Amit Shah and several leaders of the UP BJP are coronavirus positive, I’ve been extremely worried about the health of all those who will attend the foundation stone laying ceremony in Ayodhya, especially for Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

The former Madhya Pradesh CM added that she had hence informed officials of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust that during the muhurat of the foundation stone laying ceremony, she will spend her time on the banks of river Saryu.

इसीलिये मैंने रामजन्मभूमि न्यास के अधिकारीओ को सूचना दी है की शिलान्यास के कार्यक्रम के मुहूर्त पर मै अयोध्या में शरयु के किनारे पर रहूँगी ।

— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) August 3, 2020

“I will leave Bhopal today. By the time I reach Ayodhya tomorrow evening, I might come in contact with a COVID-19 positive person. In such a situation, when PM Modi and hundreds of people are present, I will stay away from the place so that they don’t get infected. Once everyone has left, then only I will come to see Ramlala”, she posted in a subsequent tweet.

Finally, she tweeted that she had requested senior officials of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to remove her name from the list of attendees.

यह सूचना मैंने अयोध्या में रामजन्मभूमिन्यास के वरिष्ठ अधिकारी और @PMOIndia को भेज दी है की माननीय @narendramodi के शिलान्यास कार्यक्रम के समय उपस्थित समूह के सूची में से मेरा नाम अलग कर दे ।

— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) August 3, 2020

Also, last week, a total of 17 people connected with the event-a priest and 16 policemen-had tested positive for coronavirus.