Claim

The Congress party formally rejected and boycotted the official invitation to the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony on 22 January 2024, with its leaders calling it a political project launched for electoral gain.

“क्या यह वही कांग्रेस नहीं है जिसने 22 जनवरी 2024 को औपचारिक रूप से... अभिषेक के औपचारिक और आधिकारिक निमंत्रण को अस्वीकार कर दिया और उसका बहिष्कार किया”

Rationale

Congress's top leadership (party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury) formally declined the official invitation to the 22 January 2024 Ram Mandir consecration, with the party's 10 January 2024 statement describing the event as 'clearly an RSS/BJP event' and a 'political project' whose inauguration of an incomplete temple was advanced for electoral gain. The anchor's characterization matches the documented record; the only minor imprecision is that the formal refusal was announced on 10 January, not on 22 January itself, which was the ceremony date.

Evidence

• https://en.prothomalo.com/international/india/4o6o06o7vr ANI report: Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury formally declined the Ram Mandir consecration invitation, with the party statement calling it 'clearly an RSS/BJP event' and saying the temple had been made a 'political project' inaugurated ahead of elections for electoral gain. ✓ reachable · archived
• https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2024/01/23/ram-mandir-pran-pratishtha-did-congress-miss-a-trick-by-declining-invite.html Confirms the Congress top leadership stayed away from the 22 January 2024 pran pratishtha ceremony after declining the official invitation, and faced political criticism for the decision. ✓ reachable · archived
• https://www.thequint.com/opinion/ram-mandir-bjp-rss-event-congress-has-declined-invite-is-their-stance-truly-secular Analysis confirming Congress declined the invite on the stated grounds that the event was an RSS/BJP political exercise timed for the 2024 elections. ✓ reachable · archived