To Go Or Not to Go? Congress's Dharm Sankat on January 22 Ram Temple Event

The Congress is caught in a dharm sankat (moral dilemma) over the Ayodhya Ram temple pran pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of January 22. The dilemma is best captured by the statement of Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu when he said, “Even if we don’t get the invite for the event, we should follow the path of Ram”. Himachal Pradesh, also called Dev Bhoomi (abode of gods), has a nearly 90% Hindu population.

In states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh, for Congress leaders hoping to make the cut this time to the Lok Sabha, the Ram Mandir matters. Congress leaders like Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and Karnataka minister D Sudhakar have called the Ram temple ceremony a political event for the Lok Sabha polls like the Pulwama attack. The fact that in a state like Karnataka, the Congress can ill afford such comments is borne out by the hurried clarification by chief minister Siddaramaiah: “We are not against the issue of Ayodhya Ram Mandir. We are not against building a temple, we are in favour of Ram Mandir.” With 28 Lok Sabha seats up for grabs in the state, the Congress which is in power here will be hard-pressed for an excuse if its performance in the parliamentary polls is poor. It doesn’t want to hand any issue to the BJP on a platter.

Similar is the situation in Uttar Pradesh where the Congress has only one Lok Sabha seat, in Raebareli. But even this could be in jeopardy if the cards are not played Right. The party’s leaders from the state who are keen on an alliance with the Samajwadi Party know that comments like the “Ram temple being Manuwadi (following the ethos of Manusmriti)”, or that the invitees must skip the consecration ceremony to present themselves as secular, will only upset the SP. The SP was quick to make the point that it would attend the ceremony even if not invited.

There is a clear divide in the Congress over the event. Some feel the entire ceremony will be centred on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it will be a party event, and an opportunity for the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. “So why play along, we can always go later,” they say. But, as mentioned above, many who will be fighting elections in the Hindi heartland in particular, and other poll warhorses feel that for the sake of allies like the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), and SP, the Congress must be marked present on January 22.