LK Adavni, who led Ram temple movement, to miss consecration ceremony

VETERAN Hindu nationalist leader Lal Krishna Advani, under whose leadership the Ram temple movement had kicked off in the northern Indian temple town of Ayodhya three decades ago, was set to skip the consecration ceremony at the newly built temple on Monday (22) due to extreme cold weather.

The town was reeling under nine degree Celsius.

Speculation was rife over the presence of Advani, who turned 96 last November, at the ceremony since the former deputy prime minister of India has remained sidelined in the era of prime minister Narendra Modi. His colleague Murli Manohar Joshi, another major leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and a former federal minister who was at the forefront during the Ram temple movement, was also unlikely to attend the event. Joshi is 90 now.

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"Both are elders of the family and considering their age, they were requested not to come, which was accepted by both," Ram Temple Trust general secretary Champat Rai told the media in December.

However, earlier in January, a leader of the Hindu right wing Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) told Asian News International that Advani would attend the inauguration of the temple. Alok Kumar, the international working president of VHP said all required arrangements and medical facilities would be provided to Advani.

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The VHP invited both Advani and Joshi last month to attend the Ram temple opening.

Meanwhile, the temple town has been adorned with flowers and streetlights, and posters of popular Hindu god Lord Ram, as the countdown has begun for the grand 'pran pratistha' (consecration) of Ram Lalla at the temple on Monday.

Prime minister Modi will lead the rituals.

Security was tightened with 13,000 forces, including anti-bomb squads and snipers deployed in the town.

A team of the National Disaster Response Force has also set up a camp near the shrine.