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Is SP taking a leaf out of BJP’s playbook? Why Akhilesh’s visit to temple town is raising eyebrows

SP chief visited Devkali & will head to Naimisharanya 10 June. Though visits linked to training camps for booth workers, they have drawn attention as they come after Ramcharitmanas row.

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Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav’s visit to two Uttar Pradesh towns, known for their pilgrimage spots and temples, is being seen by some as an attempt by the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief at playing the Hindutva card, even though the visits are officially in connection to the training camps being organised for the party’s booth workers there.

While Akhilesh reached Devkali, in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri — a place known for its Shiva temple — Tuesday, he is scheduled to visit Naimisharanya, one of UP’s major Hindu pilgrimage sites, on 10 June. Naimisharanya, in Sitapur district, finds mention in Puranic literature, held sacred by Hindus, and is often linked to many deities.

Akhilesh’s visit to the two towns has especially attracted attention as it follows the Ramcharitmanas controversy involving the SP, which is perceived by some to have damaged the party’s image to an extent.

The Ramcharitmanas, written by Tulsidas, is an epic poem based on the Ramayana and the deeds of Lord Rama. Earlier this year, Maurya sparked a row when he said some of the poem’s verses were hurtful to the sentiments of the Dalit community and demanded that they be removed.

Maurya, an OBC leader who had been a minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government till 11 January, 2022 but had joined the SP in the run-up to last year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, had said he had serious objections to the verse “dhol, gavaar, shudra, pashu, naari, sakal tadhna ke adhikari”. The leader had added that it meant that “dhol (drum), caviar (illiterate), shudra (backward castes), pashu (animal), nari (woman) are all worthy of a beating”.

While the statement led to the filing of an FIR against Maurya, the comment had also drawn a vociferous attack from the BJP and some Hindu religious leaders.

It is against this backdrop that Akhilesh’s Devkali and Naimisharanya visits are being interpreted as an attempt at playing the Hindutva card.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an SP leader told ThePrint that while some party leaders had voiced displeasure at Maurya’s statement at the time of the controversy, the party leadership was seen to have not expressed any major disapproval of the same.

Party leaders also said that so far, it was not confirmed whether the SP chief would visit any of the religious sites at the two places, but some insiders told ThePrint that Akhilesh may visit the Chakratirth and Lalita Devi temple, as well as Hanuman Garhi in Naimisharanya.

While some party leaders expressed concern about the impact of the party’s perceived Hindutva stand on its Muslim vote bank, political observers ThePrint spoke to, also said that the SP was doing what most other regional parties, and even the Congress, was doing — playing a “soft Hindutva” card, after the success of the BJP’s narrative on ground.

“Parties across the country, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, have realised that the BJP’s Hindutva politics is working for the party on ground and have started to send a message to Hindus [Hindu voters] by temple visits ahead of elections, or in AAP’s case, demanding images of Hindu gods on currency notes,” said Shashikant Pandey, head of the department of political science at the state’s Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.

Pandey added: “If we talk about the SP, the party was formed on the agenda of social justice, but later came to be seen as limited to the Yadavs. Now, the party, like other parties, is making efforts to create a space in the Hindutva platform for themselves.”

Dismissing speculations about the party’s perceived Hindutva stand, SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhary told ThePrint that the party was kicking off its training camp from Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur’s Naimisharanya.

“Booth-level workers will be imparted training about the party policies and organisation-related issues. Preparation for the Lok Sabha polls will be a subject of discussion,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of Akhilesh visiting any of the religious places in these places, Chowdhary said that while it was not part of the party programme, it may be included “if the locals want to do something”.


Also read: Akhilesh silent but Dimple makes a point: Why SP is walking a tightrope on Brij Bhushan


‘Party working for social justice’

Talking further about the training camps for the party’s booth-level workers, a second party leader speaking on condition of anonymity said, “Akhilesh ji had also visited Naimisharanya in 2015, when he was UP chief minister. He had also given a grant for development work along the Gomti river here, but a training camp is being held here possibly after years. Earlier, there have been party meetings and congregations in Sitapur district, but not in Naimisharanya. A meeting there was last held possibly during Netaji’s [a term used to address late SP patriarch and former UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav] time.”

On the Hindutva front, while Pandey felt the BJP had made headway on the agenda and it would be better for the SP to take up people-centric issues which are likely to work more for the party, this wouldn’t be the first time that the SP chief has been perceived at playing the Hindutva card.

Some SP leaders ThePrint spoke to cited the example of the 2022 assembly election, when the party had kicked off its poll campaign from Chitrakoot, a town where the Hindu deity Ram is believed to have spent much of a 14-year exile from hometown Ayodhya.

Ahead of the same polls, Akhilesh had also visited Ayodhya and famously remarked that “Lord Krishna regularly appeared in his dreams” and told him that he (Akhilesh) would establish “Ram rajya“.

However, SP spokesperson Manoj Singh Kaka told ThePrint that one only needs to look at the poster released by the SP ahead of beginning its Lok Jagran Yatra Tuesday, to be able to identify the party’s objectives. The Yatra, organised in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, started from Lakhimpur Kheri.

“It clearly states that the SP is a party working towards social justice and caste census. There is no straying from that. We are a party that respects all religions, as per the Constitution. Our main agenda is social justice, which is why we ask why out of five vice-chancellors of agricultural universities in the state, five are Rajputs and not Pals, Kushwahas, Rajbhars, etc [While Rajputs are upper caste, others are considered lower in the hierarchy]. That is the question,” said Kaka.

Meanwhile, a section of party leaders is worried about the impact of the SP’s perceived Hindutva stand on its traditional Muslim support base.

“The Congress has been upbeat since its victory in last month’s Karnataka assembly election. We can’t afford to alienate the Muslim voters, who have stood solidly behind the party, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. We can’t afford to walk on that path (Hindutva politics),” said a third SP leader speaking on condition of anonymity.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)


Also read: How split in opposition votes helped BJP sweep UP mayor election. BSP biggest loser in civic polls


 

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