Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony: A double edged sword for Congress & CPI
Muhammad Haroon Abbas Qamar
The consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram temple is scheduled for January 22, 2024.
Will you participate in it or don’t? This question has become a major headache for the senior Congress leaders. If they decide to attend the ceremony, then for them there will be definite backlsh from the minorities. And if they refuse to attend it, they will also have to face the music from the majority population. It is a double-edged sword as far as Congress is concerned.
Although, the current atmosphere of politics for opposition parties is understandable but the matter of fact remains that finding a solution or an answer to it is not easy. If truth be told, and it is a wide perception that various Congress leaders are of the opinion that they should not have received the invitation to attend Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony.
There is a common perception that BJP is planning to politicize the consecration ceremony by citing various reasons related to the criticisms it has faced for not sending the invitations for attending the ceremony.
Earlier, the Communist Party of India (CPI) had announced that they will boycott the Ram temple inauguration ceremony, claiming that BJP is giving a political color to the Ram Mandir event.
CPI National General Secretary Sitaram Yechury was personally invited by the head of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, but he ignored it saying that it will help BJP gain political point scoring. Also Sitaram Yechury in a press conference in New Delhi said religion is his personal choice but BJP leadership uses it for its political agenda.
In response to this, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs Minister Meenakshi Lekhi said that only the devotees of Lord Ram can participate in the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir. It is believed that ignoring this invitation or not attending the ceremony will never lead to a split within the Communist Party because their basic principles are anti-religious and anti-God. But the answer as to what sort of reaction will come from the secular community after looking at their strategy or act can be explained. As far as the Hindi-speaking northern states of India are concerned they have millions of Ram followers, but it is also a reality that followers of communism are also quite low there and in some places they are non-existent.
At the same time, in order to win the seat of power in Kerala, the Communist Party will have to form an alliance with various religious parties including the Indian Muslim League.
But such an environment is not conducive for the Congress party. The question for Congress whether on January 22 its leaders will attend the consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram Temple or ignore it, is not that simple. The Congress Party is forced to take a decisive decision on this. If Congress is not as influential as the Communist Party in Hindi speaking states, it can easily ignore the temple consecration ceremony and they will gain the true secular rights. But at the moment, the situation is not conducive to this sort of strategy as well. The real issue for Congress is that if it attends the ceremony, then it will be difficult for it to get Muslim votes from the northern states.
A problem will arise. Also if the ceremony is neglected then BJP will use it to its advantage and try to portray the Congress party as the enemy of Hindus. It is almost certain that like the Communist Party of India, the Congress will also boycott the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple. There are reports that the minority community is putting pressure on the Congress party to reconsider its decision of attending the Ram temple consecration ceremony.
The party has been forced to take a decision on the matter so that the Congress’s Muslim vote bank in the northern states is not dispersed
It is also being said that In Kerala there is pressure on the Congress from various organizations including the Indian Union Muslim League which is part of the ruling coalition over the inauguration ceremony of the Ayodhya temple.
It is being said that in order to handle the situation of Hindu voters in northern states Congress can participate in the event. Many Congress leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have been invited, but Manmohan Singh has already cited his ill health as reason behind not attending the ceremony.
Will the Congress take revenge from BJP, which is doing vote politics in the name of Hindutva principles by participating in the inauguration of the Ayodhya temple? It is important to see whether it can find a place in the minds of the Hindu masses.
As, in the recent elections to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister candidate Kamal Nath promised to embrace the Hindu people. He promised to them that if his party comes to power, then it will build temples for Hanuman and also promised to give 5 silver bricks for the construction of Ram Mandir. However, the harsh reality is this that Kamal Nath was ignored by the people of the state. Earlier in 1989 general elections, the Congress Party led by Rajiv Gandhi braced the defeat by adopting a similar strategy. Although at that time the Congress Party started its election campaign by making promises related to the construction of temples. Due to insufficient majority, Janata Dal leader V.P. Singh formed the coalition government.
The grand opening of the Ayodhya Ram Temple is highly anticipated by millions of Hindus. Millions of people are waiting for the Ayodhya temple to open on January 22nd. But the matter of concern is that India is grappling with a situation where it has to be seen whether Congress would use this opportunity to perpetuate vote bank politics or the minorities hail it as defenders of social justice for ignoring this ceremony.
