LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi likely to get invite for Ayodhya event

New Delhi: Veteran BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi will 'definitely be invited' to the ground-breaking ceremony for building of a temple in UP's Ayodhya on August 5, sources in the trust set up to oversee the construction said on Saturday, hours after it seemed that neither would receive such an invitation. Both will be invited via phone, as all other leaders have been too, sources added. The invitations are being co-ordinated by Champat Rai, the General Secretary of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which was set up by the Supreme

Court after its landmark verdict in November last year. Former Union Minister Uma Bharti and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh got their invitations on Saturday. They have said that they will be at the event,

for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been invited and will attend.

Last week Advani appeared before a special CBI court in Lucknow via video link to answer questions relating to the mosque's razing. Advani, 92, who is among the accused in the case and was asked more than 1,000 questions over four-and-a-half hours, has denied all charges, according to his lawyer.

Joshi, another senior BJP leader who recorded his statement before the same court, said that those who had deposed against him done so for political reasons and that all allegations against him were false.

Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti are among the BJP leaders accused of conspiracy.