The Hindutva Narrative of BJP for Election Success.

Hindutva narrative may pick up as BJP readies for state polls.

Pankaj Saha | TOI | Lucknow | May 24, 2022:: The raging Gyanvapi-KVT complex row might lend a powerful traction to the Hindutva narrative that the rightwing organisations, including the RSS and its political arm BJP, seek to harp in the run-up to Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections at the end of this year.

BJP sources said that the Gyanvapi-KVT and the Mathura Shahi Idgah cases are bound to ticker parallelly amid an unflinching reliance of saffron ranks on the ever-growing popularity of PM Narendra Modi ahead of not only the assembly elections in multiple states in the next one year but also the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

A top BJP leader in UP said that while the popularity of PM  Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath played a vital role in the party’s electoral success in the recently concluded UP polls, it was the resonating Hindutva narrative that gave the saffron outfit an overwhelming acceptability.

“It is true that the politics of community appeasement by opposition had left the ‘majoritarian Hindu’ restless. It was natural for Hindus to come together. At the same time, the policy of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ furthered amalgamation of Hindus even as the caste barriers got diluted,” said UP BJP spokesperson HC Srivastava. BJP sources said that the party’s historic return to power was somewhat different from the early 1990s when Hindutva was at its peak because of the Ram Temple movement.

Another BJP leader pointed out that one needs to remember the party’s ever perpetuating slogan – “Ayodhya Ki Tayyari Hai…Kashi Mathura Baki hai”. “That’s exactly what is happening,” he said. While the Garb Griha (sanctum sanctorum) of Ram temple is expected to be completed by December 2023, the right-wing organisations have barrelled in to keep the promise of “liberating” Kashi and Mathura from “invaders”. “The trio of Ram, Shiva and Krishna will have grand temples,” the leader said.

While the BJP considers the upcoming Ram temple as a coveted trophy, it has started keeping a close watch on developments around Gyanvapi-KVT and Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah mosque which are currently under a rigorous legal scrutiny.

Political experts maintained the two issues have started attaining political overtones. “There is no doubt 0the BJP is candid in showcasing its ‘bi-polarity’ by squarely flagging the Mughal period as the one infested with controversies, especially those around temples,” said Prof Shashi Kant Pandey, head of political science department at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.

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Courtesy: TOI.