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Congress backs Places of Worship Act amid Gyanvapi row, in bid to do ‘what Gandhi would do’

The party spelt out its stance on Gyanvapi legal tussle at a time when the Hindutva debate was hotly discussed at its brainstorming session, with many members offering differing views.

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Udaipur: The Congress has said that no attempt should be made to “change the status of any place of worship”, while expressing its stance on the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi mosque legal tussle.

The statement comes at a time when the issue of how the Congress would counter the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Hindutva narrative in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was hotly discussed at its mega brainstorming session or ‘Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir’, which began Friday, with many members offering differing views.

Ultimately, the party decided that which way it goes on Hindutva and other matters will be based on the principle of “what would (Mahatma) Gandhi do”, sources who were present during the discussions, told ThePrint.

Speaking at a press conference here on the second day of the brainstorming session Saturday, former Union minister P. Chidambaram said that any such attempt to change the status of a place of worship will only “lead to a huge conflict”.

The declaration came a day after a Varanasi court directed an advocate commissioner and his team to continue the survey and videography of the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex in connection with a plea by five women seeking permission for daily worship of carvings of Hindu deities on the outer wall of the mosque. The court-mandated exercise resumed Saturday.

The Congress backed the Places of Worship Act, a 1991 legislation that “prohibits conversion of any place of worship”. Echoing Chidambaram’s views later in the day at the ‘Chintan Shivir’ venue, senior party leader and former cabinet minister Salman Khurshid said that the Act had been upheld by the Supreme Court given in the Ayodhya verdict.

The Congress has been trying to navigate the Hindutva question in its strategy to counter what it calls the BJP’s version of an “ideal Hindu”. Last year, the party had begun a ‘Hindu-vs-Hindutvawadi’ campaign on the back of the sentiment that a “real Hindu” is tolerant and secular. However, the campaign didn’t manage to gather much steam. 

The reports of six coordination panels on different subjects will be adopted by the party as the ‘Udaipur Declaration’. The declaration will be passed at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party.


Also Read: Congress slams wheat export ban, bats for MSP at Chintan Shivir


‘Places of worship should remain as they are’

“The Places of Worship Act was passed after deep consideration in Narasimha Rao’s government. The only exception in that Act was the Ram Janmabhoomi. We believe that all other places of worship should remain as they are and were,” Chidambaram said at the press conference Saturday.

“We should not make any attempt to change the status of any place of worship, that will only lead to a huge conflict and it is to avoid such conflict that Narasimha Rao passed the (Places of) Worship Act,” he added.

Further reiterating the constitutionality of the Act, Khurshid said: “The Act had been approved by the SC in the Ayodhya judgment itself. This was being very consciously done, keeping Ayodhya out of that legislation and ensuring that there will be total closure for all times to come.”

“We fully stand by that legislation and we do not have any second thoughts,” he added.

‘Go by Gandhi’

At the Chintan Shivir, the party deliberated over how to take on the BJP’s Hindutva narrative.

Speaking to ThePrint, a senior party leader who did not wish to be named, who was present at the discussion of the political committee said that the final conclusion was to “go by Gandhi”.

“Everyone came to a consensus that when it comes to all strategic matters of the party, we should go back to doing what Mahatma Gandhi would do. Gandhi was a Hindu but he was a unifier, he was a mass leader and an agitator who brought all kinds of people under one umbrella of the nation,” the leader further said.

Another party leader who was present during the discussion said that many differing views were presented before this conclusion was reached.

“Some leaders like Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel said that the party should not run away from talking about Hindutva, quoting his state’s example. Others said that the word Hindutva plays into the BJP’s narrative while others said that it may alienate minority religions and even tribal voters in some areas,” he added.

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)


Also Read: 30 years after liberalisation, Congress calls for economic reset at ‘Chintan Shivir’


 

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