Ahead of January 22 event, focus on Ram Lalla's 'next friends'

As Ayodhya gears up for Ram Lalla’s consecration ceremony, here is a look at the deity’s ‘next friends’ who represented him in courts of law since 1989. The first in line was Deoki Nandan Agarwal, a retired HC judge who was later appointed as vice-chairman of VHP. He contested that since Ram Lalla was a child, he as his friend would fight on his behalf. After Agarwal’s death, Thakur Prasad Verma, a professor at BHU, took up that role.