Ayodhya: PM, UP CM & a select few to share stage | Economic Times

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be joined on the stage and on the spot of the bhoomi pujan (ground-breaking ceremony) for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5 by a few select invitees, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Ram Temple Trust head Nritya Gopal Das.Some of these VIPs will speak on the occasion, with the general secretary of the trust, Champat Rai, coordinating the proceedings, said people aware of the matter. Home minister Amit Shah is also likely to attend the function, they said.The bhoomi pujan will be done by the PM between 12:30 pm and 12:40 pm in the auspicious ‘abhijeet muhurat’. “There will be limited number of VIPs on stage and at bhoomi pujan spot given social distancing norms and Covid-19 protocols,” a member of the trust told ET on condition of anonymity, as Ayodhya district saw its biggest single-day increase of 142 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, taking total cases to 1,194 and active cases to 544.The coronavirus situation is being closely monitored in Ayodhya where, a senior official said, the number of positive cases had surged in the past 24 hours as testing had been increased ahead of the August 5 function. Many security-men posted at the Janmabhoomi premises are being tested to eliminate the possibility of any infected person on the premises, he said. “More than 2,000 Covid-19 tests were done in Ayodhya in the last 24 hours. So far, 36,000 tests have been done in Ayodhya at a manageable 3% overall positivity rate,” said the official. Fourteen people have died in Ayodhya due to coronavirus while the recovery rate stands at 53%.PM Modi could visit the Hanumangarhi temple before reaching the Ram Janmabhoomi premises. This famous temple is en route to the proposed Ram temple and was visited earlier by Rahul Gandhi in 2016, Priyanka Gandhi in 2019 and their grandmother Indira Gandhi many years ago.