Delhi minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday said it is important to visit the Ram Temple but the timing does not matter. On being asked whether Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who has been skipping ED summons would visit the Ram Temple consecration event in Ayodhya on January 22, Bharadwaj said, “Kejriwal has already been there. The connection is with Lord Ram. Lord Ram will be there on 23, 24 as well.. And if you have devotion, you can pray here, in this office only,” Bharadwaj said. “Most of the opposition party leaders said that they would go. And I think there should not be such controversies that everyone has to go to the temple with PM Modi, sit with PM Modi,” the minister said.

“I don’t know about CM Kejriwal’s schedule. And I also think it should matter. I would say one must go, but not necessarily with PM Modi,” Saurabh said.

Kejriwal will be on a three-day visit to Goa from January 18.

Kejriwal, his wife Sunita Kejriwal and other AAP leaders attended a Sundar Kand recital programme at a temple in Rohini — as the party is holding Sundar Kand and Hanuman Chalisa recitals across Delhi on Tuesdays.

Kejriwal’s visit to the programme on Tuesday drew flak from AIMIM as president Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the difference between the AAP and the BJP. “Some are saying they will go to the Saryu river (Ayodhya), now in Delhi they are saying they will hold Sundar Kand and Hanuman Chalisa recitals. There’s no difference between them and the BJP-RSS, and they are now following their ideology,” Owaisi said.

“I feel that we need not reply to Owaisi. We will seek blessings for him from Lord Hanuman and God should bless him too,” Saurabh said on Tuesday as he participated at a Sundar Kand event in Chirag Dilli.

Row over Ayodhya Ram Mandir invite

Several opposition parties, including the CPM, the Congress, Trinamool Congress, and Samajwadi Party, announced that they would skip the inauguration ceremony. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena said he was not invited despite the contribution of Balasaheb Thackeray behind the Ram Mandir dream. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar will also skip the event.

The Aam Aadmi Party has not yet announced its official stance as for long they said Kejriwal was not invited. The Ayodhya Temple Trust reportedly said they sent Kejriwal the invitation by the speed post. On January 22, AAP will hold Sundar Kand recitals across the national capital.