Bhagwan Ram unwilling to oblige BJP now

Hey Ram! The BJP is back to Bhagwan Ram. Sri Sri is shuttling between Lucknow and Ayodhya. Of course, his oozing but sudden love for Ram temple is at the BJP bidding. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally put up a big show in the city of Ram on the Diwali eve. There is a bit of hurry within the BJP camp to bring back Bhagwan Ram into public focus. Surely, there must be some difficulty for the party because people mostly go to Sri Ram in difficult times.

Indeed, the BJP is in a deep crisis. Its demigod Narendra Modi seems to be failing. Demonetisation and the GST’s impact is having its reverse impact not just on businesses but also on peoples’ patience. They are no longer eager to vote for BJP as they had been doing election after election since 2014. The saffron camp has failed to win even a single election since September. Be it municipal polls (BJP lost Gurugram and Nanded), university students’ union elections (the ABVP lost nine universities starting from the JNU and finishing at BHP), parliamentary by-election (Firozpur in Punjab) or Assembly by-elections (Delhi and Chitrakoot), the BJP lost every election.

Modi magic is not working any more. Now bhagwan Ram alone could help the party of ‘Hindu saviours’. After all, the Ram temple movement at the site of Babri mosque did wonder for the BJP, transforming it into the principal opposition party in parliament in 1991. The crisis now is in both Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

Gujrat is Modi’s home turf. He has been winning each election there since 2003. It has transformed him from a mere BJP functionary to the prime minister. The problem is Gujarat seems no longer a Modi fortress. Rahul Gandhi has breached it. Even the worst of Congress critics are now conceding that the Congress Party is putting up a tough fight for the BJP in Gujarat. If something goes wrong there, the Modi castle may crumble in Delhi too. That will be surely something terribly disturbing for Modi personally and the entire saffron political family.

But the BJP is not disturbed about Gujarat alone. Its worry is Uttar Pradesh too. It is the most crucial state for the party. It sends the largest number of Lok Sabha MPs with 80 of them. The BJP current tally from UP in the lower house is 70 plus. The home state of Bhagwan Ram is ready to elect its municipal bodies later this month. Going by the poll trends so far, if the BJP loses major municipalities in UP too, it will be hugely embarrassing for the ruling party. The BJP’s only winning trick is by rousing passions. It could be the Ram temple for Brahmins or the film, Padmavati, for Thakurs in this season of Gujarat Assembly and U P municipal elections.

But there is a catch in the BJP script this time. The BJP manages to rouse Hindu sentiments only when there is a Muslim enemy opposing the Ram temple construction. There is no Babri Masjid Action Committee opposing Vishwa Hindu Parishad as it was during the 1990s. There is already a temple at the Babri mosque site. The construction issue is pending before the Supreme Court for its final verdict. Muslims are consistently saying that the court judgment will be acceptable to the community.

How does the BJP build up a Hindu backlash on the Ram temple issue? That seems to be the reason that the Sri Sri mission seems to be failing. Neither the Hindu nor the Muslim players in Ram temple issue have so far shown any willingness to meet Sri Sri.

Well, Bhagwan Ram does not seem willing to oblige the BJP. The responsibility of winning elections now solely rets with Narendra Modi. Modi, too, is a shrewd Hindu card player. There has been no Godhra or Akhshardham terror attack for Modi to successfully project himself as the Hindu ang rakhshaK. If nothing of the sort happens, Gujrat and UP municipal polls could go the Bihar way.

Bhagwan Ram seems not too pleased with the BJP so far.