In the run-up to the grand opening of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to be using all publicity and campaign techniques to ensure Ayodhya stays at the centre of focus for voters across India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi can make the most of this, as his party prepares to launch its campaign for the Lok Sabha polls of 2024. The Opposition and its entire spectrum —barring the Left parties which clearly announced that they would stay away from the event — seems confused about how to handle this challenge posed by an aggressive BJP. If leaders from the Opposition attend the inauguration they will appear to be playing second fiddle there with Modi leading the grand event — and if they refuse to attend, they might be targeted by the BJP which is eager to brand them as “anti-Hindu”!
Some talk has been going on in the national media about who has and has not been invited to the grand event in Ayodhya. The event is being officially handled by the Shri Ram Temple trust and on record the BJP can always say that they have nothing to do with the preparation of the final list of invitees; however, it is obvious that the BJP and people in the central government are supervising the whole event as it will see the Who’s Who of the Indian political establishment under one roof. Government protocol and security concerns make it obvious that finally it is the central government and its leaders who will control the event, and not just the temple trust. As expected the BJP is not letting go of any chance to use the opportunity to drive its political messaging using the event and how, if possible, to use it to tarnish the image of the Opposition parties.
In Uttar Pradesh former chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav seems uneasy about how to answer questions from the media about whether he will go for the temple inauguration. Some sources say he has not been given any formal invitation yet but may receive one in the coming days. The Samajwadi Party does not want to hurt its vote bank among the minority community in the state, but does not want to be seen as “anti-Hindu” either!
In Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party is confused about how to handle the hype created by the BJP ahead of the grand Ayodhya event. The party's state president Jayant Patil was seen on Monday attending a Ram pooja event and was flanked by supporters wearing caps with the words “Jai Shree Ram” painted on them. Speaking with the media at the event Patil put up a diplomatic statement. “We too are devotees of Ram, nobody should think that only they have ownership of Lord Ram,” Patil said, taking a jibe at the BJP.
Leaders like Patil may put up a brave face, but speaking off the record, many of their activists accept that the “Hindutva challenge” that the BJP has put forth currently puts them in an awkward position, as they have been constantly advocating a secular line of thinking in all campaigns previously.
What makes the Congress in Maharashtra very uneasy is public statements from their alliance partner Uddhav Thackeray. The Shiv Sena has been undoubtedly vocal about their Hindutva agenda and in fact claimed in the past that they had participated in the act of bringing down the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992. Late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray said on many occasions that Shiv Sainiks were at the site in Ayodhya when the act happened, and went to the extent of saying that he was proud of that fact. The Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP now find it difficult to face questions from the media on this subject. Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut makes it a point to be vocal about the Ayodhya issue and keeps mentioning that the party will continue on its hard Hindutva agenda.
Leaders like Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat have made public statements that they respect the religious feelings of people, but they follow a certain ideology and would not be attending the event in Ayodhya. On the other hand leaders such as Sharad Pawar who have clearly followed a “left of centre” political ideology have not made any statement about going or not going to Ayodhya. In the recent past Sharad Pawar was seen attending prayers and rituals at the Dagdusheth Ganesh Mandir which is very rare for him to do. He ensured that the media attended the rituals, and visuals of him praying at the temple reached the public through mass media and social media. Pawar is obviously feeling the pressure created by the BJP’s campaign machine, on the Ayodhya issue specifically and the Hindutva agenda in general.
Narendra Modi’s BJP seems to have succeeded in setting the agenda about what should occupy the public mind in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. The recent visit by India's Defence Minister to Kashmir and his meetings with the top commanders of the Indian Army there, after a series of attacks by terrorists resulted in many Indian soldiers getting killed and the total death toll reaching 30, has not resonated in the national media the way the attack in Pulwama which killed 40 Indian soldiers did. The focus instead is fully on the pre-inauguration events in Ayodhya. The opening of the airport and railway station at Ayodhya takes all the space in the national news media while the events happening in Kashmir or Manipur don’t seem to be given similar weightage. Clearly the BJP has succeeded in setting the agenda this season and the Opposition seems to be clueless till now about how to counter it.
Rohit Chandavarkar is a senior journalist who has worked for 31 years with various leading newspaper brands and television channels in Mumbai and Pune
