Guwahati, January 11 (IANS) In response to Congress turning down an invitation to attend the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the grand old party was given a "golden opportunity to reduce its sin".

In a post on X, Sarma said: "The @VHPDigital had given the Congress party a golden opportunity to reduce its sin by extending their leadership an invitation to attend the Shri Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Mahotsava.

"Although, in my humble view, they did not deserve such an invitation at the first place for their views against the Ram Mandir from the very beginning.

"By accepting this invitation, they could have symbolically offered an apology to the Hindu Samaj. However, like Pt Nehru did with the Somnath Temple, the Congress leadership did the same with the Ram Temple. History will continue to judge them as an anti-Hindu party."

He also attached a letter by Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh dated January 10 of officially declining the invitation.