Battle 2024: Will Ram temple issue be clincher for Modi?

It is almost certain that once the G-20 summit would come to an end and head of the states of member countries of powerful forum of the world would leave in the month of coming September, 2023, India would be in an election mode. They are slated in the month of April-May, 2024.

Even before the poll dates would be announced, the nation would see huge euphoria when the Ram temple would be unveiled in Ayodhya in January, 2024. Of course, the Ram temple has been the life and soul of BJP's politics since it came into being in 1980. Will the Ram temple would be an issue in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls too? Will the BJP reap the fruits of construction of Ram Temple? This question is rife in the air.

The saffron party wants the temple to open before the Lok Sabha polls. It goes without saying that when the opening of the temple take place under the watch full eyes of Prime Minister Narenedra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath, it will be preceded by a massive publicity blitzkrieg to raise Hindu passions and create a frenzy of sorts for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

Of course, other constituents of the Sangh Parivar are planning programmes to create a build-up for the grand occasion. The Yogi Adityanath government expects the pilgrim footfall to go up to around one lakh devotees per day when the temple opens.

The BJP, which could win only two Lok Sabha seats in the 1984 elections, adopted a resolution at its Palampur national executive demanding the construction of the Ram temple. The fledgling party found its cause. On November 9, 1989, the shilanyas was carried out at the site, and when Lok Sabha elections were held a few days later, the saffron party’s tally surged to 85, and it has not looked back since.

During the campaign, BJP leaders would point out that in no other regime would the temple have come up. Also, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party would be attacked for derailing the temple's construction for years.

Yogi Adityanath has visited the temple site almost every month since he came to power in 2017 and has been personally supervising the development work. The excitement around the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation benefited the BJP and now it is time for its final result. Whatever the party promised, it delivered. The BJP will gain from the temple construction and also when it is opened to the public.

The BJP will bring the temple into the campaign in an organised manner. Even if it displays the picture of the completed temple, it will have an impact on the Hindu mind. The main impact will be felt in Hindi-speaking areas, but it will not be limited to those areas. The people in the south are also religious; they may vote for regional parties, but they look up to the temple, and thus it will have an impact.

While the 2019 Lok Sabha election narrative was about surgical strikes, the Ram temple will become the big narrative in the 2024 general elections. And this is something that no political party in the country can deny.

Union home minister Amit Shah has recently said in Tripura that the Congress has been hindering the Ram Temple construction case in courts since independence and the Supreme Court's verdict on the matter came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power.

The Ram Temple issue was being stalled by the Congress ever since the independence. It was after when PM Modi came to power that the Supreme Court gave its verdict and the construction of the temple began the same day following a ‘bhoomipujan’,” Shah said addressing the public.

And now, Ayodhya awaits the grand opening of the Ram temple after a series of legal and political battles.Nripendra Misra, chairman of the Ram temple construction committee, said that by December 31 this year, the garbh griha of the temple would be complete and Ram Lalla’s idol would be moved to his permanent abode.

The opening of the Ram temple will be a key element in the BJP’s narrative for its 2024 campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the prime mover behind the building of the temple, should be the main beneficiary of the public sentiment built around the religious issue. The Modi government has delivered on two of its core ideological promises ahead of the elections - building the Ram temple and the removal of Article 370.

Alas, Ram temple issue would surely haunt the Congress this time too. Congress abandoned the Ram Mandir issue post Rajeev Gandhi’s death. And the BJP sensibly embraced it. On the one hand, Congress gradually developed a phobia for Ram, Ramayana, and Ram Rajya. On the other hand, the BJP mobilized Hindus using the highly emotive issue and emerged as a dominant political force in the country.

Ever since Congress abandoned Ayodhya, Hindus starting abandoning Congress in North India.In 2009, when the UPA government filed an affidavit in Supreme Court questioning the existence of Lord Ram, it became a cause célèbre. The religious sentiments of millions of Hindus were hurt, and Congress is still paying a heavy price for what has been a decisive mistake.

Over the years, we never saw any Congress leader talking about Lord Ram. In fact, Ram Naam became Congress party’s bête noire to such an extent that anyone who takes the name of Lord Ram is termed as Sanghi, communal, bigot, or Hindutva agent by the party members.

Well, the Ram temple will go beyond the symbolism of a Hindu deity to signal a larger message of cohesion and cultural synthesis. It is social engineering through invoking divinity. Based on Modi’s suggestion, the temple complex will have seven new temples dedicated to key characters in the Ramayan - Maharishi Valmiki, Shabri, Nishad Raj, Acharya Vashisht, Rishi Vishwamitra, Ahalya and Agastyamuni - who are revered by different castes and communities and in diverse geographic regions. Valmiki is revered by dalits, and so is Shabri. Surat has a temple dedicated to her, while the Sabarimala temple in Kerala is believed to draw its name from her. Nishad Raj is revered by the fishermen community. Acharya Vashisht was a Brahmin, while Vishwamitra belongs to the Kshatriya caste. Ahalya and Agastya have temples dedicated to them in various parts of the country.

Finally, the BJP would not spare any stone unturned to expose the likes of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and others who were critical of the Ram Temple. It may be recalled that Owaisi lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of violating the oath of office by taking part in the bhumi pujan of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. “India is a secular country. The Prime Minister has violated the oath of the office by laying the foundation stone of Ram Mandir. This is the day of the defeat of democracy and secularism and success of Hindutva,” the Hyderabad MP said. Come next Lok Sabha polls, Ram temple almost certainly will take the centre stage.

(The author is Delhi-based senior journalist and writer. He is author of Gandhi's Delhi which has brought to the forth many hidden facts about Mahatma Gandhi)