Congress No To Mandir Invite: Principled Stand Or Political Harakiri?

The Congress today declared that it would skip the massive inauguration ceremony being planned for the Ayodhya Ram Temple, saying it was a "political project" of the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The party said its leaders -- party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, his predecessor Sonia Gandhi and the party's Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury -- who received the invitation, have declined. Is this political hara-kiri ahead of the general elections?