The call for the consecration ceremony of Ram temple had brought two types of challenges before the Congress. The first challenge was to preserve our politics of anti-communalism. The Congress leadership and strategists will hardly accept this. The second challenge before him was regarding his existence. From a neutral point of view, the Congress has chosen to maintain its alleged anti-communal stance, even if clouds of apprehension loom over its existence. Congress strategists believe that the Ram Temple movement is built on the foundation of communalism. Don’t know whether they accept this or not, but it is true that because of this attitude, Congress started shrinking from its strongholds in North India. In Uttar Pradesh, where its central leadership is associated, only one seat is in the possession of Congress. It has only two MLAs in the state assembly of 403 members. It has only one MP out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, while it has 19 MLAs in the 243-member assembly. However, its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal is behind the number of MLAs. Congress has one MP and 18 MLAs in Jharkhand. Here also its allies have contributed.
It was expected that Congress would try to avert the crisis on its existence by participating in the Pran Pratistha ceremony, but it has chosen the path of alleged anti-communalism. The local leadership of Congress did not want this. Congress MLAs have also announced to visit Ram temple some other day. Congress leaders have also started saying from time to time that Ram does not belong to anyone but to everyone. It is clear that the local leadership wants to establish its relationship with a section of upper caste voters who were separated from the Ram Mandir movement, but the Congress high command and their advisors probably do not like it. It should not be forgotten that even though the movement regarding the temple has been going on for hundreds of years, it gained momentum only after the lock of the disputed structure was opened. On the instructions of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the lock was opened in November 1989 and a symbolic foundation stone was laid on November 9. In those days, the Rajiv government was facing allegations of minority appeasement after the Supreme Court overturned the decision in the Shah Bano case. Since general elections were to be held after some time, Rajiv government decided to lay the foundation stone to stop the allegations and get the support of Hindu voters. But that move of Congress backfired.
The call for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple could have been an opportunity for the Congress to respond to the politics of minorityism among North Indian voters. She could have participated in the function and said that Ram belongs to everyone and not to any particular party. This step could have increased the problems of BJP. However, BJP would also have had the opportunity to say that Congress, which had denied the existence of Ram, had also had to take refuge in Ram. Such things keep happening in politics, but the real game is to prove one’s importance in front of the voters. If Congress wanted, it could have used this opportunity from this perspective. By deciding not to attend the ceremony, he has in a way gone against the trend. The kind of narrative presented by the party after its performance in the recent assembly elections seems to indicate that it does not have much hope from North India. Telangana falls in the southern region of the Vindhya mountain range. A few months ago, Congress had won in Karnataka. After the victory in Telangana, Congress gave the idea that while the voters of North India vote on the basis of communalism, the voters of South India vote on issues. Perhaps by refusing to attend the ceremony he is in a way trying to strengthen his fort in the South.
Akhilesh Yadav has also rejected the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony of Ram temple. Anyway, he has no hesitation about his vote bank. Same is the situation of Lalu Yadav and his son Tejashwi in Bihar. These days, JD(U) has also started raising its voice against communalism, whose entire existence rested on the support of BJP and kept moving forward. Congress is the only party which has a pan-Indian image and reach. Therefore, it is not easy for him to have a blunt opinion on the issue of Ram Temple. Its workers also do not want this in the changed circumstances. But the top leadership of the party remains firm on its old stance. No matter how big the flag of anti-communalism may be raised by the Congress high command by rejecting the invitation to the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, it is also true that Siddaramaiah, one of its commanders to the right, seemed upset at not getting an invitation to the ceremony. It is clear that somewhere the southern leaders of the party also feel that angering the Hindu vote bank may prove costly for them.
(These are the personal views of the author.)