New Delhi: The Ayodhya Ram Mandir is likely to be an important campaign thrust for the BJP during the upcoming bypolls to 27 assembly seats.
While the BJP officially claims its campaign will focus on development, sources say the party has planned multiple ‘Ramshila (bricks) Pujan Rath Yatras’ in the run-up to the bypolls.
As part of the yatra, Ramshilas made of silver and other metals will be taken on a “rath (chariot)” to different places across constituencies, especially villages, worshipped, and then be carried to Ayodhya.
One such yatra was kicked off by state minister Govind Rajput, a loyalist of MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, Wednesday in the Surakhi constituency of Sagar district in Bundelkhand.
One of the 25 MLAs who quit the Congress as part of the Scindia-led rebellion earlier this year, Rajput is likely to make a fresh bid for Surakhi during the bypolls.
The yatra will be held for 11 days and cover the entire assembly segment. According to a source, more such yatras will be taken out in the coming few days, especially in the constituencies where bypolls are scheduled.
There’s been no official statement from the BJP about the yatra. Approached for comment, the BJP said its campaign will be focused on development.
“Ram Mandir is an important source to create the right mood among the public but as far as our agenda is concerned it will be solely development. We will highlight the work done by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the past 15 years and how the 15 months of Kamal Nath government were far removed from development,” said Deepak Vijayvargiya, chief spokesperson for BJP Madhya Pradesh.
He was referring to the Congress’ brief stint in office in the state from 2018 to March 2020. The Congress rebellion has robbed the erstwhile Kamal Nath government of the requisite numbers in the assembly and forced him to resign.
“Our committees have been formed and virtual meetings are already taking place. We are sure of a victory,” Vijayvargiya added.
Construction of Ram temple has been a manifesto promise of the BJP.
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A crucial election exercise
The Election Commission will conduct 65 bypolls along with the Bihar elections, scheduled for later this year. This includes the seats that fell vacant after the Congress rebellion in Madhya Pradesh — a total of 25 Congress MLAs resigned, 22 of whom subsequently joined the BJP. Two other seats have been vacant owing to the death of their incumbents.
Re-election is key for Rajput and other Scindia loyalists who were inducted as ministers in the state to retain their berths.
The bypolls are also crucial for the stability of the BJP government in the state. It needs to win at least 9 seats to have a majority in the 230-member House. As things stand, the BJP has 107 members in the House, while the Congress has 89.
Talking about the party’s campaign plans, a senior BJP leader said, “We have 1,052 mandals (in MP) and on all these, we have prepared a list of major farmers, social workers, intellectuals, doctors, lawyers. We have already got in touch with them. For our virtual rallies, we will ensure their participation.”
The virtual rallies mentioned here are the video-link addresses being made by senior BJP leaders to establish voter outreach as conventional rallies have become untenable amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Don’t fight polls on religious issues’
The Congress, which has also tried to claim the Ram Mandir construction as a win for the party, says it will not make religion a part of its campaign.
“Kamal Nath ji is a religious person himself and he got a 101-foot-tall statue of Lord Hanuman installed in Chhindwara district. He also started the bypolls campaign from the Ujjain Mahakal Temple,” said Congress spokesperson Ajay Yadav.
“He has already made our stand clear that we respect people’s religious beliefs and sentiments. We supported the bhoomi pujan in Ayodhya. As far as election is concerned, we don’t fight elections on religious issues. We will highlight the work done by the Kamal Nath government in 15 months, and the failure of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government too,” he added.
Last month, the Congress had celebrated the 5 August ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Temple at the state Congress office. At the same time, former chief minister Kamal Nath organised a religious ceremony at his home that included reciting Hanuman Chalisa.
A state Congress functionary had claimed in August that it was former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who fulfilled the idea of ‘Ram rajya’ as he got the locks of the Ram Janmabhoomi site opened in 1986 to allow devotees a glimpse of Ram Lalla, or infant deity Ram. Rajiv Gandhi had also allowed the foundation stone-laying ceremony in Ayodhya in 1989, the leader, Govind Goyal, added in a newspaper ad issued on the former PM’s birth anniversary (20 August).
Asked about the BJP’s Ramshila yatra, a Congress functionary told ThePrint that if Congress members — of their own accord, without engaging the party — want to organise such initiatives, they were free to do so.
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