Dressed in white robes and with a chandan tilak on his forehead, Chief Minister Ajit Jogi today played the perfect host at the Virat Sri Ram katha at Raipur’s BTI grounds. Hundreds of Hindu devotees and dozens of Congressmen attended the function.Guru Maa Anandmayee, who was in town for the recital of the katha, reached the venue in a beautifully decorated chariot, while the CM himself ensured his presence at the early morning puja to mark the beginning of the katha.It is for the first time that a chief minister has publicly hosted a Ram katha, apparently to counter the BJP’s Hindutva card in the run-up to the polls. Over one lakh invitations were sent out to citizens inviting them to the Ram katha. Except for a brief break, Jogi was present throughout the function. ‘‘It’s not that Sri Ram Lala belongs only to BJP, the Congress had never publicised it,’’ he said.
