INDIA will boycott Ram temple ceremony

The boycott of Ayodhya’s Ram temple inauguration ceremony is bound to have an impact. This decision will strengthen the member parties of the INDIA block, but in the political environment dominated by Hindutva, this step of the opposition alliance seems quite risky right now.

There is a tremendous atmosphere regarding the inauguration ceremony of Ram Temple which is going to be held in Ayodhya on 22 January. From social media to the streets. In fact, this is the only thing being discussed in the streets and in most of the tea shops.

Political division has been seen on the issue of Ram Temple since the beginning. Samajwadi Party and Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal have been standing as a wall in front of the temple movement, but at times Congress has also been seen adopting the middle path.

Just as Mulayam Singh Yadav has been reminding of the incident of firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya throughout his life, Lalu Yadav has been mentioning the arrest of BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani in Bihar – Congress is heavily involved in opening the lock of Ram temple in Rajiv Gandhi government. Confusion was visible.

That is why sometimes Priyanka Gandhi Vadra kept presenting her side on social media before the Bhoomi Pujan for Ram Temple, and sometimes Rahul Gandhi kept trying to differentiate between BJP’s Hindutva and Hinduism on the pretext of Ayodhya and Ram Temple. Certainly, it would have been very difficult for the Congress leadership to take any decision on the Ayodhya issue.

Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi should be thankful to Mamata Banerjee. As the Trinamool Congress leader came forward and took a stand and clearly refused to attend the Ram Temple inauguration ceremony, it would certainly have been a little easier for the Congress leadership to decide its stand.

However, now almost all the members of the INDIA block have made their stand clear on Ram Temple. Congress is not the last in this series, because Aam Aadmi Party is still saying that Arvind Kejriwal has not received the invitation – and one thing going in favor of Nitish Kumar is that face to face meeting with the members of the organizing committee. Face meeting could not take place.

After Congress ‘respectfully declined’ the invitation, the collective responsibility of taking risks has now fallen on the entire INDIA block, but it is also true that risky decisions are often beneficial as well.

If we look at the upcoming general elections, there are many factors which are going to be the scale of profit and loss for the leaders of INDIA block – let us try to understand one by one.

1. Secular politics instead of soft Hindutva

Mamata Banerjee’s Chandi Path will also be given a place in the category of Rahul Gandhi’s soft Hindutva experiments. Yes, Arvind Kejriwal reading Hanuman Chalisa on TV seems like taking it two steps forward. Arvind Kejriwal’s demand to put pictures of Lakshmi and Ganesh on notes along with saying Jai Shri Ram is the biggest proof of this.

After Mamata Banerjee taking a stand, now Congress also seems to be going to abstain from soft Hindutva politics forever. The decision to stay away from the Ayodhya ceremony indicates this, but this should not be considered applicable to the entire INDIA block. Like Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s mind also seems to be wavering. The silence of both the leaders is telling this.

Rest of the things are in their place, but one thing seems absolutely clear – the contest in the Lok Sabha elections is going to be between the politics of Hindutva versus secularism.

2. What should be considered in terms of opposition unity?

Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal still seem to be the weak links in the INDIA block. If we look at the stance of other leaders, all the leaders of the opposition camp are of one opinion against the Ayodhya agenda of BJP, hence all of them can be considered united. At least something can be said on this issue.

3. Political debate of South vs North

It seems that the new stand of INDIA Bloc on Ayodhya will further deepen the debate of South vs North Indian politics. Considering the influence of BJP in North India, Congress may see more emphasis on the politics of South.

In North India, the main responsibility of competing with BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi may fall on parties like Samajwadi Party, RJD and JDU. Being the leader of the opposition alliance, the Congress leadership is going to be the biggest target.

4. What is the possible impact of caste politics?

In the assembly elections held in five states of the country, there was no impact of the demand for caste census, but in the Lok Sabha elections, it is not necessary that exactly the same result will be seen – because a big difference can be seen in both the elections. .

A scattered opposition was fighting against BJP in the assembly elections. If the issue of seat arrangement in INDIA block is resolved then the difficulties on the way can be reduced considerably. Having a united opposition candidate against BJP is not a guarantee of victory, but no one can deny that there will be a tough contest.

5. The stance of Muslim vote bank will be very important

Uniting of Muslim voters can be very dangerous for BJP. BJP has already tasted this in the 2021 West Bengal election results, and the maximum number of Muslim MLAs Samajwadi Party got in the 2022 UP elections is the biggest proof in itself.

The effect of division of Muslim votes in UP itself has been seen in the Azamgarh by-election – like UP and Bihar, in every Muslim populated area, the opposition can give a tough competition to the BJP, and this is after the new stand of INDIA Block on the Ayodhya issue. It becomes even more solid.

6. How far will the fight go on the issue of Sanatan?

From the reaction of BJP leaders on the latest stand of INDIA Bloc on Ayodhya, it can be guessed that weapons like Sanatan will be fully used by the ruling party to corner the opposition – but INDIA Bloc has already given this hint. That he is not going to step back on this issue.

The kind of reaction that was seen from Congress President’s son Priyank Kharge on the statement of DMK leader Udayanidhi Stalin on abolishing Sanatan Dharma, and the reaction from RJD leaders was heard – it has to be assumed that in future also the politics of the opposition will be on the same line. About to walk.

7. Is it easy or difficult to compete with BJP and Modi?

Certainly, BJP, wrapped in the cover of Hindutva, can also get the benefit of Modi wave, but it may be difficult for BJP to divide caste politics and Muslim vote bank, which is a direct benefit for the opposition alliance.

According to the INDIA block, the opposition alliance is going to contest the Lok Sabha elections with its secular image as compared to BJP’s Hindutva pitch. Yes, on the issue of Sanatan and the nationalism of BJP, all the leaders of INDIA block including Congress will have to face tough competition from BJP at every step. Whatever happens, and whatever the result is, one thing is for sure that the match is going to be interesting.