Congress spokespersons told to stay away from ‘anti-Hindu’ debates on TV

File image of Congress party supporters | PTI

Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has asked its spokespersons not to participate in TV debates on issues concerning faith and religion.

New Delhi: The Congress has asked its spokespersons to steer clear of TV debates on three polarising issues — Ram mandir, Sabarimala and Citizenship Amendment Bill — as the party wants to avoid being seen as taking sides on sensitive Hindu issues ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

“The Ram mandir issue is sub-judice and it is between the court and the government, so what purpose will the opposition serve by commenting on these issues?” said a senior Congress leader.

“Similarly, Sabarimala is also being heard by the court. At the same time, these issues are related to the religious sentiments and it’s better to avoid getting caught in any unnecessary debate that can be used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for furthering their own cause,” the leader added.

However, another Congress leader said they had been following this practice for quite some time.

“There is no blanket ban at all,” said a party spokesperson. “But over a period of time, we have realised that some channels run the government’s agenda,” the spokesperson added.

“There have been times when we got requests from different channels but the line of thought was the same [as the BJP]. So it was all completely orchestrated. In such situations, we realised it’s futile to send our spokespersons.

“On and off,” the party spokesperson said, “we have gone for debates on these issues too. Depending on the merit of the request and issue, we send our spokespersons.”

Treading cautiously

The issues at hand have triggered some of the most burning controversies of contemporary India.

The Ram mandir row centres on the demand of a section of Hindus that a Ram temple be built at the site where the Babri masjid once stood. The site, it is believed, was the birthplace of Lord Ram.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill is a controversial piece of legislation brought by the Narendra Modi government that seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from neighbouring countries.

The Sabarimala controversy, meanwhile, is about the demand to allow women inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Ayyappa shrine. On this issue, the Kerala Congress has weighed in on the side of protesters who have led demonstrations against the Supreme Court order allowing women inside.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala had said last month that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee was merely “espousing long-held traditions of people of Kerala in a peaceful and in an amicable fashion in order to arrive at a solution, which is justifiable and acceptable to everybody”.

On the issue of the Ram mandir, too, the Congress has been treading cautiously. At a recent press conference, on a question regarding an application that was filed by the government on the issue, Abhishek Manu Singhvi had said “we have nothing to do with this matter, which is yet to come up in court”.

“The court will decide, application will be allowed, application will be dismissed, application will be modified, that is between the Supreme Court and the applicant,” he had added.