Priest who set 'muhurat' for Ram Temple bhoomi pujan gets death threats

Unknown callers have threatened ‘Pandit Sharma’ to withdraw the date of the bhoomi pujan

Astrologer N R Vijayendra Sharma or ‘Pandit Sharma’ as he is popularly referred to, is the person who picked out the date and time, or muhurat, for the Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan.

Now, Sharma has been receiving death threats for the past few days, and claims to have received over 60 calls, according to a report by The Times of India.

A police officer has been deployed outside his home. He is a resident of Shastri Nagar, Belagavi, in south-west Karnataka.

A case has been filed with the Tilakwadi police station regarding the same.

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The callers have allegedly been threatening Sharma to either withdraw the muhurat or face consequences for refusing to do the same.

Along with Akshay Tritiya, Sharma suggested four other auspicious dates on which the bhoomi pujan could be conducted. “The month of Shravana, according to the Hindu calendar, is very auspicious. All the dates I suggested fall in this Hindu calendar month,” he said in a report by The Print.

Sharma had close ties with former Prime Ministers Atal Vihari Vajpayee and Morarji Desai. He also shared an association with BJP stalwarts like L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.

Along with Sharma, Varanasi-based astrologer Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid also played a role in finalising the muhurat.