The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s invitations to leaders of political parties for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on 22 January have caught the Opposition in a severe bind.
While parties, especially the Congress, struggle to craft a response, the BJP is having a field day, with leaders mocking the confusion among the Opposition ranks. The issue, which will likely occupy the centre stage of the BJP’s 2024 campaign, is turning into a political quagmire.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has already declined the invitation, asserting that “religion is a personal choice not to be converted into an instrument for political gain”.
Nripendra Mishra, the temple construction committee chief and former principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, personally delivered the invitation to the CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on 23 December. Three days later, the CPI(M) released a statement. “It is most unfortunate that the BJP and RSS have converted a religious ceremony into a State sponsored event directly involving the Prime Minister, the UP Chief Minister and other government functionaries,” it said.
It may have been easier for the CPI(M) to do so, for parties like the Congress, which has a significant presence in the heartland states where Ram Mandir is an intensely emotive issue, responding to the invitation is a tightrope walk. The trust, set up by the Centre to build and manage the temple, has invited Congress leaders, including president Mallikarjun Kharge, parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and the party’s Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to the ceremony.
That’s why the politics over the Ram Mandir invitations is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.
Also read: After backlash over ‘request’ not to attend Ram Mandir inauguration, Advani & Joshi receive invite
A dilemma for Congress
Political researcher Asim Ali suggests that the Congress is essentially caught between “two axes”—balancing regional considerations and its evolving caste agenda vis-a-vis its traditional ‘soft’ Hindu nationalist moorings.
“If the Congress takes a conciliatory stand, the CPI(M) might make a play for their Muslim votes in Kerala. The Congress needs to maximise its seats in Kerala again to hope to reach the three digit mark in Lok Sabha. At the same time, taking an opposing stand might hurt it in the Hindi belt,” Ali told ThePrint.
The fact that Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, according to Ali, moved away from the Congress in the late ’80s and early ’90s due to the party’s “strategic ambiguity” on Hindutva must also be weighing on the mind of its leadership. As Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi had allowed the opening of the locks of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site and had later permitted the laying of the temple’s foundation stone as well.
During the recent Madhya Pradesh assembly election, Congress’ chief ministerial hopeful Kamal Nath also sought to claim ownership of the Ram temple movement, reminding people, in one of his campaign speeches, of Rajiv Gandhi’s role in opening the locks placed by the Nehru government in 1949 after idols of Ram appeared overnight at the site.
“So does the Congress opt for a clean break now or continue a policy of strategic ambiguity, drawing clear lines of opposition between a ‘progressive’ caste agenda and a ‘regressive’ Hindu nationalist agenda? It will be keenly watched,” Ali said.
On Friday, the Congress leadership’s dilemma was reflected in Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor’s decision not to attend the inauguration ceremony. He said that while the invitees should be “left free to make a personal choice”, by turning it down they run the risk of being described as anti-Hindu. And in the event of them going, they will be blamed for “playing into the BJP’s hands”, Tharoor said.
On Thursday, the Shiv Sena (Udhhav Thackeray faction), which was instrumental in the Mandir movement in the 1990s, also said it will not attend the event. “This is all politics… Who wants to attend an event by the BJP? This is not a national event. This is the BJP’s programme,” MP Sanjay Raut said. He added that party leaders would “definitely visit the temple” after the inauguration.
Among other major INDIA partners, Trinamool Congress and Nationalist Congress Party are also likely to skip the programme. NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday that while he is “happy that the temple is coming up for which many have contributed”, he has not yet received an invitation.
(Edited by Prashant)