New Delhi: Former cricketer and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad has sparked off a controversy by his remarks on the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
He would never visit the temple because Lord Ram had abandoned his wife Sita, Azad has said.
The MP was reacting to the BJP’s criticism of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his proposed December 12 visit to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The saffron party, in an apparent jibe to the SP chief asked him to visit the shrine on December 6 instead and apologise for the killing of ‘kar sevaks’ during his party’s rule.
“Is Lord Ram the only God among the 3,200 crore deities in our country? I will never go there because Lord Ram abandoned his wife, even after she had passed the Agni Pariksha and sent Maa Sita away from his home. Why should I go,” Azad told ANI.
The TMC MP elaborated that being from the birthplace of Maa Sita, she is also his mother and for every person hailing from Mithila.
“You sent her away along with two small, innocent children, even after she had passed the Agni Pariksha. Maryada Purushottam? What kind of Maryada is this? What should I tell children?,” Azad said.
He worships Maa Kali and goes to Kamakhya temple, the MP said. He also reacted on devotees calling Lord Ram as ‘Maryada purushottam’, saying that someone who abandons his wife and children cannot have ‘maryada’.
“I visit Kali Kamakhya, Dakshina Kali, Kalighat and the Kali Temple in Delhi, located at Gol Market. Does that mean I am not a Hindu?,” Azad said further.