Exactly a day after the groundbreaking ceremony of Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sparked controversy after he stated that he won't attend the inauguration of the mosque in Ayodhya as he is a Hindu and Yogi. 

In a television interview on Thursday, the Chief Minister said he would definitely not go to the inauguration of the mosque as he is a Hindu and he has the right to express his way of worship and act as per the traditions. He went on to say, 'If you ask me as a Chief Minister, I have no problem with any belief, religion, or community but if you ask me as a yogi, I will definitely not go'.

By citing that he won't get an invitation from the Muslim groups for the inauguration, he claimed that the secularism of many will be a danger if they invite him. He further said that he would keep working silently to ensure that everyone is benefitted from the government without grounds of any discrimination.  

He accused the Congress party of getting political benefits through the disputes. The Chief Minister said that Congress doesn't wish to have a solution for the dispute rather they wanted the dispute to continue for their political benefits. 

After his statement sparked controversy on the political grounds, the state opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) has demanded the Chief Minister to offer an apology to the people of the state. SP's spokesperson condemned the remarks of the Chief Minister and said that he had breached the oath he took while assuming the office of the Chief Minister. 

The opposition leader said Yogi Adityanath is the Chief Minister of the entire state, not only for the Hindu community, and regardless of the population of Hindu and Muslim, he is the Chief Minister of everyone and his remarks had shown that he lacks dignity.  The Congress party has also charged the Chief Minister for the controversial remarks. 

The spokesperson of the national party said that the BJP is playing politics of fake Hindutva and he further claimed that Congress had voiced for the interest of people and Lord Ram belongs to everyone but the BJP wants to picture that Lord Ram belongs to them. 

On Wednesday, Ayodhya hosted the groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction of Lord Ram temple in the then disputed site. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the ceremony and laid down the foundation stone for the construction in the presence of 175 people including the religious leaders, Hindu saints, and seers. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also attended the ceremony which held amid the spread of COVID-19.  

According to the reports, some of the Muslim leaders were also invited to the ceremony, which was conducted as the grand event. It must be recalled that last November, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court pronounced a unanimous verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute case and the court has allowed the construction of Ram temple in the disputed land while it also ordered the Central and Uttar Pradesh governments to allot land in Ayodhya for Muslims to build a mosque that was demolished in the disputed site in 1992.