Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said it is difficult for his party's leaders to attend the January 22 Ram temple consecration ceremony as the BJP and the RSS have turned it into a "political event" centred around Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

His remarks at a press conference during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here comes days after the Congress top brass declined the invitation to the event at the Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

"The Ram temple consecration ceremony is a political event centred around the prime minister. The BJP and the RSS are giving an election flavour to it and that is why it is difficult for us to attend," Gandhi said. "It is difficult for us to attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony when our principal opponents the BJP and the RSS have captured the function and turned it into election event," he said.

On the opposition INDIA bloc, the Congress leader said the alliance will defeat the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The seat sharing discussions among INDIA bloc partners are being carried out amicably, he said. "I am confident that small problems within the INDIA bloc will be resolved and we will together defeat the BJP. The issue of seat sharing is being taken up with INDIA bloc allies. Talks are going quite well," Gandhi said. He asserted that the opposition alliance will win the Lok Sabha poll together. The yatra reached Nagaland on Monday evening after it began in Thoubal in Manipur on January 14.

The march will pass through 100 Lok Sabha constituencies in 15 states, traversing 6,713 km, mostly in buses but also on foot, and culminate in Mumbai on March 20 or 21.

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