Even as Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav reiterated that he would go to Ayodhya when called by Lord Ram, a hoarding welcoming the consecration of the Ayodhya temple appeared at the UP state office of the party in Lucknow on Tuesday. The hoarding carries the photo of Akhilesh Yadav on top and that of the Lord Ram with the slogan — ‘Aa Rahe Hain Hamare Aradhya Prabhu Ram’.

“Aur hamare purvaj aur hum logon ke samaj mein ye mana jaata hai… ki jab bhagwan bulate hain, tabhi darshan paate hain aap (Our ancestors and the people from the community believe that it is only when the Lord calls us that we can go for paying obeisance),” the SP chief said here on Tuesday.

The BJP is going all out for the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ (consecration) of Ram temple in Ayodhya, scheduled for January 22, while the Samajwadi Party is treading carefully on the issue.

The reason for this, party leaders say, is that the Opposition party knows it cannot portray itself to be on either side – against the temple, or for it. SP MP and Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav has already said that she will attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony, if invited.

Meanwhile, Dimple Yadav urged the BJP for door-to-door ghee distribution in all the villages for the ‘Shri Ram Jyoti’, a lamp-lighting call by the party on the occasion of the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of the new idol of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya temple on January 22.

“I have received information that a message has come to light lamps in all the households and BJP people will go to each village. I request the BJP to send ghee to people in the villages so that villagers can light lamps at their homes,” Dimple said.