By Yash Shukla
With the Congress party and leaders like Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani giving sleepless nights to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership, the BJP has found a new issue to bank upon in the upcoming Gujarat elections. The Ayodhya issue, which has always paid a dividend to the BJP, has again taken centre-stage in poll-bound Gujarat with the BJP taunting the Congress party to make its stand clear on Ram Mandir issue.
The crux of the issue
Gujarat is a state where the BJP, as well as the Congress party, seek to get the votes on religious grounds. With Rahul Gandhi visiting 23 temples in 15 days and his party proclaiming his Janeudhari credentials, the BJP has gotten irked by the recent efforts of the Congress party to gain ground in the state on the religious lines.
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi in a rally questioned the stand taken by senior Congress leader and counsel of Sunni Waqf Board Kapil Sibal in the Supreme Court. Kapil Sibal, who, in his personal capacity is representing the Sunni Waqf board had in Supreme Court asked the bench to postpone the verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir suit. PM Modi in his rally, conveniently blurring the lines between right and wrong, targeted Sibal on his stand in the Supreme Court, who was fighting the case in his personal capacity and had nothing to do with the Congress party.
A religiously worded battle
The BJP after ruling Gujarat for a long time of 19 years has been battling anti-incumbency and in the wake of a sliding economy and Patidar agitation, has been in no condition to talk of its pet project Ache Din. In the absence of the development, the only issue that it could depend upon is Ram Mandir which since the 1990s has been paying rich dividends to the party.
Apart from Prime Minister Modi, BJP president Amit Shah also targeted Sibal and the Congress party to make its stand clear on the Ayodhya issue. Shah targeted the Congress party and asked the voters to vote for a real Hindutva party like the BJP. Mr Shah targeted Mr Rahul Gandhi for showing fake devotion towards temples and Hindutva. He asked Mr Gandhi if he had visited the Akshardham temple in Delhi which takes 15 minutes from his home in Delhi.
The BJP clearly finds itself on the back-foot by the entry of the Congress party into its domain of Mandir Politics. However the voters in Gujarat are not as gullible as they were in 1990s who voted in the name of Lord Rama. The voters are aware that the Ram Mandir has been reduced to a political campaign. Voters would definitely ask of the BJP about its promises on the issue of Vikas and Employment.
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