Ram Temple inauguration on Jan. 22; BJP aims to ride Modi’s ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat image’
Shri Ramjanmabhoomi Trust members called on PM narendra Modi
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, October 25: Ram and Hanuman hogged the limelight during the Navaratra festival, from West Bengal to the northern parts of the country. The accompanying sloganeering reverberated with ‘Mandir wahin banayenge (temple will be built there only)’.
Champat Rai of the Shri Ramjanmabhoomi Trust announced on Wednesday that ‘pran pratistha’ of Ram Lalla will be held on January 22 at the newly built temple. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) Mohan Bhagwat and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be present on the occasion,” Rai stated in a media statement.
Modi broke the news by posting a photograph of the Trust members calling on for the invitation, saying that “I feel fortunate that I will become a witness to the historic moment”. He also stated that he is gratified that he will witness the “momentous occasion in his lifetime”.
The subtle message seen between the line is the achievement of the Modi government to get the Ram Temple built in a time span which was seen not achievable a few years ago. The Ramjanmabhoomi verdict by the Supreme Court was delivered with Modi at the helm of the government.
To hammer the import of the occasion to the masses in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, Bhagwat revealed the plan to commemorate the inauguration of the Ram Temple across the country. The strength of the workers of the RSS and the BJP may ensure that the Ram Temple inauguration fervor obliterate all other issues.
With the inauguration of the Ram Temple, the BJP will clearly be projecting Modi as the ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’, an image which is being carefully crafted by the saffron outfit. Modi’s linkages in the redevelopment of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Complex in Varanasi, Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand, and Mahakal Temple in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh come in handy for the grand messaging in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. Besides, Modi is also a part of the Somnath Trust where major beautification and expansion of facilities have been undertaken in the recent years.
While speaking at an event for ‘Ravan Dahan’ in Dwarka in the western Delhi, Modi had linked the inauguration of the Ram Temple with his call to the people to breakout of the caste and regional lines. He had said that “Ravan Dahan should not be just for burning of an effigy, but also be against those forces which seek to divide ‘Ma Bharti’ on caste and regional lines”. His remarks were interpreted to have come in response to the Opposition block, the Indian National Developmental and Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), making a narrative around a caste census at the national level.
The rise of the BJP in the national politics has been attributed to the party’s ability to overwhelm of the caste-identity politics by the party’s bid to consolidate the Hindu vote base. The inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya appears another opportunity for the Modi-led BJP to project a counter narrative against the Opposition bloc.
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