Back To Ayodhya

As the Lok Sabha election nears, the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya is a piping hot issue again. But this time, the BJP is not so sure if the subject is quite live enough.

- Uday Mahurkar

There was an air of grim resolve at the yuva vichar mahakumbh, organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Lucknow on November 23 last. Over 5,000 youth from the extended Sangh Parivar—the Bharatiya Janata Party, its student wing ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad) and others—had gathered in the Uttar Pradesh capital, for what was billed as a brainstorming session on key national issues in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. As the chief guest, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, rose to speak at the inaugural, there was sudden commotion at the venue, and out of the chaotic hubbub rose chants of: “Jo mandir banayega, vote usi ko jayega (Votes only to the one who builds the Ram temple in Ayodhya).”

For an organisation known for its disciplined cadre, the sloganeering in the presence of top leaders, including RSS joint general secretaries Dattatreya Hosabale and Krishna Gopal and UP deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, was an indication of how politically loaded the temple issue has become for the Parivar. Yogi finally began his speech some minutes later, but only after senior RSS leaders intervened and calmed down the impassioned youth.

However, two days later, on November 25, when the RSS held rallies across the country to press for an ordinance on the Ram temple issue, the parent Sangh organisation was more accommodative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP (Hosabale, in Bengaluru, was an exception). Their attacks, Sangh insiders claim, were aimed more at “the anti-temple forces” and possibly the Supreme Court, for not giving the Ayodhya case hearings top priority. RSS leaders now say even this was part of a calibrated strategy to keep up the pressure on the BJP government at the Centre.