The foundation stone for the Ram Janambhoomi temple will be laid today at a gala ceremony that will be presided over by the Prime Minister himself. There had been concerns as to whether he would call it off or postpone it, especially in light of the pandemic and also the fact that his ace lieutenant is down with Covid-19, but PM Narendra Modi is going full steam ahead. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has also tweeted about the timing claiming that it was “ashubh mahurat” (inauspicious timing) that went against the norms of Sanatam Dharma. But on the auspiciousness of the timing, Dr Subramanian Swamy told NewsX that “there’s always good time for good deeds and a bad timing for bad deeds”. So there goes that argument and moreover, as Dr Swamy pointed out, the timing was not chosen by the PM but the priests. And so the “bhoomi pujan” will go on, giving PM Modi just the right backdrop to play the “Hindu Hriday Samrat”. If things go according to plan, the temple will also be the right backdrop for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
While All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi has questioned the propriety of whether the PM would be violating his oath as a secular leader by going to attend the “bhoomi pujan” for the construction of the Ram Janambhoomi temple. According to Owaisi, this would be a violation of the PM’s “constitutional oath”. However, this argument finds few takers even amongst the Opposition. Interestingly, a number of Congress leaders from Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh to Manish Tewari have come out in support of the temple construction. As has Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who tweeted, saying, “With the message and grace of Lord Rama and Mother Sita, the Bhoomi pujan ceremony of the temple of Ramlala became an occasion for national unity, fraternity and cultural congregation.”
This is interesting because the Congress is officially yet to make a comment on this. The matter did come up at a meeting of the party’s Rajya Sabha members recently when Deepender Hooda reminded everyone that the party had welcomed the Supreme Court verdict in favour of the temple construction. And by not joining hands with the likes of Owaisi the Congress is marking a shift in its narrative that is in keeping with Rahul Gandhi’s temple hopping during the 2019 election campaign. More recently the Congress leadership also felicitated former PM P.V. Narasimha Rao, a man they had hitherto castigated for allowing the Babri Masjid demolition to happen on his watch. Although the demolition was not brought up specifically, both Rahul and Sonia Gandhi paid tribute to his legacy at a meeting of the Telangana Congress leaders last fortnight.
Interestingly no Congress leader has been invited for the bhoomi pujan ceremony, However, it does seem that finally (perhaps), the party has read the writing on the wall and is making a gradual shift in its own ideology. Which is interesting because the Congress did play a role in the Ram temple movement — from the time when Rajiv Gandhi brought the epics to our small screens, and rekindled their impact on the masses. It was also Rajiv who got the locks of the Babri Masjid opened in 1986 and three years later allowed the shilanyas. This is a legacy the Congress should have capitalised on; instead, it has allowed the BJP to hijack the entire Ram temple movement post L.K. Advani’s rath yatra.
The original leaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement — Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi — will not be present in Ayodhya, though they have been invited. Given their age, Joshi and Advani will participate digitally. Another crusader for the cause — Dr Subramanian Swamy who played a crucial role in the legal battle ever since VHP leader Ashok Singhal asked him to take over the case in 2015 — is not invited. He told NewsX that he is not bitter at being left out, he did what he had to do and will visit Ayodhya when the temple is built. Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS chief, will be on stage along with PM Modi, as he sounds the bugle, with a clarion call for Jai Shri Ram.