New Delhi: Joining the list of Opposition leaders who declined the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22 is Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.He wrote to Champat Rai, the general secretary of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, conveying his inability to attend the ceremony. Pawar instead said he would visit Ayodhya at a later date to get a “darshan”, without referring to the politicisation of the event by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) like other Opposition leaders.“There is an immense excitement among Ram devotees for the event in Ayodhya and they are reaching there in large numbers. The joy of this historic event will reach me through them. After the January 22 event, it will be easier to get darshan,” Pawar said in a statement in Hindi.He, however, did touch upon the point that the construction of the temple is yet to be complete, a fact that the opposition has criticised the BJP about underlining that the event is being planned only to help the BJP in its electoral prospects in the wake of upcoming general elections. The NCP chief noted that he would pray to Ram Lalla during his upcoming visit to Ayodhya. “By then, the construction of Ram Mandir will also be complete,” he said.Even the Shankarcharays noted their objection to the consecration, underscoring that Hindu Shastras do not permit performing the consecration of a deity in an incomplete temple. They also noted that January 22 falls in the lunar month of Paus, which is inauspicious for the ceremony.After much thought, the Congress party too hit out at the BJP-RSS for “politicisation” of the event and said that none of its leaders would attend the ceremony. “Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain,” the party statement had said.Several other opposition leaders, including Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) too turned down the invitation.