Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has made his stand clear on Thursday on attending the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22 even as few Opposition (non-BJP) parties are in a dilemma.

Hemant, leading a JMM-Congress-RJD coalition government in Jharkhand, will be completing four years of his government on Friday while interacting with media at his official residence in Ranchi on Thursday evening said: “I am yet to get an invitation for the ceremony. However, If I get an invitation I will definitely attend it. I will also attend a function to mark inauguration of any place of religious importance be it a masjid, church or a gurudwara.”

Hemant’s, who is among the core members of the newly formed INDIA bloc, stand assumes significance as CPM senior leader Sitaram Yechury and Trinamool Congress have decided against attending the event as they consider it as a “political agenda of BJP to further its prospects”.

Incidentally, Congress senior leaders are yet to disclose their stand on attending the grand function as of now.

Hemant also said that the seat sharing issue will be settled soon between the INDIA alliance allies for the 2024 parliamentary polls.

In yet another significant statement, Hemant said that there was no need to project a Prime Minister’s face before the Lok Sabha polls.

“People themselves will select their face in due course of the polls. There is no need to project a PM’s face before the election. Projecting a PM face for the election is a recent trend which I personally feel is not needed,” said Soren when asked by a scribe on the issue.

Incidentally, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee and Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal have during the INDIA alliance meet on December 19 voiced support for Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge as PM face to wrest Scheduled Caste reserved seats from BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Soren, however, took the same stand as several other INDIA alliance partners when asked about the efficacy of EVM machines used in the elections.

“I personally feel that election should be held in secret ballot papers as it used to be in the past. Several countries have stopped using EVM for elections after coming to know of shortcomings and there is no harm in taking cue from them,” he said.