'Come back, join Ram, Ramatva, Bharat': VHP slams Sitaram Yechury

New Delhi: The Vishva Hindu Parishad on Tuesday took a swipe at CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury after he declined an invite to the January 22 consecration ceremony at Ram temple in Ayodhya and said it would be in his interest if he “returns to Ram, Ramatva and Bharat”.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) reaction came after the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said Yechury has turned down an invitation to attend the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying that religion is a personal choice not to be converted into an instrument for political gain.

Reacting to it, VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal wrote on X, “There are reports that the one whose name is Sitaram will not go to Ayodhya Dham”.

ख़बरें हैं कि...
जिनका नाम सीताराम, नहीं जाएंगे अयोध्या धाम!!
राजनैतिक विरोध तो समझ आता है किंतु अपने नाम से भी इतनी घृणा किसी को हो, वह तो कम्युनिस्ट ही हो सकता है! द्वेष राम से है या स्वयं के नाम से है, बताना तो बनता है...!!

— विनोद बंसल Vinod Bansal (@vinod_bansal) December 26, 2023

“Political opposition is understandable, but if someone has so much hatred for his own name, he can only be a communist,” he added.

Yechury’s party’s commitment might be something else, but it is not clear whether the CPI-M general secretary’s opposition is to Lord Ram or his own name, Bansal said in a video statement, adding, “A clarification is required on this”.

“... The country is returning to Ram and ‘Ramatva’, for how long will you oppose them,” the VHP leader said and asked Yechury to “come back and join Ram, Ramatva and this Bharat”.

“This is in your best interest now. Otherwise, people know how to respond,” Bansal added.

The VHP has spearheaded the Ayodhya Ram temple movement since the early 1980s.