New Delhi: The new Congress leadership team in Uttar Pradesh seems haunted by the party’s lack of a clear stand on a number of issues, such as the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid disputed site in Ayodhya, stray cows and kanwariyas.
The new 41-member team, headed by new UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, raised these issues with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary in-charge of UP (East), at a meeting in Rae Bareli Tuesday.
Priyanka is in her mother and Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi’s constituency Rae Bareli for three days, and is set to hold consultations with a large number of party leaders and workers.
She has been active in UP ever since the party’s Lok Sabha rout, and has already visited the state six times. She has also been taking on the BJP government on social media regarding the people’s concerns.
“Many party workers and some senior leaders wanted guidance from Priyanka about what stand they should take when it comes to Ram mandir,” a close aide of Priyanka told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
She told the team that they should discuss and find “a way” to best address the issue and let her know. “She was very receptive and completely agreed that the party needs to have a strategy on the issue,” the aide said.
The Supreme Court reserved its judgment in the Ayodhya title case on 16 October, after hearing it for 40 days. The final verdict is expected in November.
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Not the first Ram Mandir discussion
Of late, the Congress has been facing a virtual rebellion in its ranks, with many leaders breaking away from the party line on various issues, the most recent being Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s shastra puja (weapon worship) of the first Rafale jet in France, and the complete disarray over the scrapping of Article 370 by the Narendra Modi government.
This is hardly the first time the Congress’ stand on the Ayodhya case has been discussed in its ranks. At a meeting of AICC office-bearers chaired by former party chief Rahul Gandhi in August, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar had raised the issue. Sources told ThePrint that Jakhar had flagged it as the next controversial development that would need a clear stand from the party, after the numerous fumbles over Article 370.
The issue came up again two months later when the party’s training in-charge, Sachin Rao, conducted a workshop for secretaries at the AICC headquarters. Sources told ThePrint that Congress workers had again asked for a clear stand on the issue. But the party still doesn’t seem to have decided its strategy.
One of the few Congress leaders to speak about the case has been its spokesperson and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who said the Supreme Court’s decision would be the “best” solution to the dispute.
“I am a firm believer that the best solution to what is a very fractious issue in this country, the Ayodhya debate, both for minority and for the majority, is the Supreme Court’s verdict,” Singhvi said last week when the court reserved its judgment.
In contrast, BJP leaders have repeatedly asserted that the dream of Ram mandir will be fulfilled, with the latest example being Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani.
“The Supreme Court has concluded the hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute… By next month the verdict (Supreme Court) will be out… The BJP is a party that believes in the legal framework… We can now dream of Ram mandir as it will soon be a dream that will be fulfilled,” Rupani said last Saturday.
Also read: UP Congress chief calls Priyanka ‘storm of change’, says party will win 2022 polls
Stray cattle and Kanwariyas
Other issues that came up at the meeting included the Congress’ approach to the problem of stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh, sources said.
The problem of stray cattle has hit farmers hard in the state, causing a ‘cow crisis’ under the BJP government. They can neither sell old cattle, nor transport them for the fear of cow vigilante groups. Moreover, according to the 2019 Livestock Consensus, the increase in the number of stray cattle has also taken a toll on the population of indigenous breeds of cows, which showed a 6 per cent decline since livestock owners shifted focus to buffaloes.
“The workers also wanted to know about kanwariyas — should they support them or oppose them,” said the aide.
Kanwariyas, who tour the state during the auspicious month of Shravan, are devotees of Shiva who undertake an annual pilgrimage. The Kanwar Yatra has often resulted in clashes and violence in both Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The UP government last year welcomed kanwariyas with open arms, but did little to quell the fear of hooliganism in people.
The deteriorating law and order situation under the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government was also discussed at the meeting.
Congress has already cleared their stand earlier as fake Ram. They cannot change every day
All one can say is that soft Hindutva has not helped the Congress one bit. It was grating on the ears to hear Dr Singh say “ Savarkar Ji “ not once but twice in the course of a short paragraph. There is nothing dishonourable in a national party saying that, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and its own century long tradition, it stands fully with Dalits, Muslims, Adivasis and all other less privileged sections of society. Ensure that where its governments are in power in the states, all of this – including women’s safety – will be guaranteed.