On the eve of the Supreme Court hearing on the contentious Ram Janambhoomi case, the BJP and RSS-VHP have a prima facie difference of opinion. The former would like to wait for the apex court to deliver its verdict on the appeals against the Allahabad High Court judgment of 2010. The latter feels the dilly-dallying that has marked the judicial process so far, serves no purpose and the government should push ahead with an enabling legislation.
Naturally, they are on the same page insofar as building the Ram Mandir is concerned. The question is one of taking the credit, rather than entertaining the possibility of a subsequent government doing so, even if that means jumping the gun with a pre-emptive Ordinance.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to keep larger issues in mind. In recent years, he has acquired considerable traction on the global stage and has outgrown the muscular Hindutva image stemming from the 2002 Gujarat riots. He would like to stick to his development agenda and rely on delivery of services and benefits to the poor to bring him back to power in Lok Sabha 2019.
An influential section of the BJP supports this stance and further believes that turning the election campaign into a Modi vs Rahul battle will deliver the electoral goods. It feels that the recent assembly elections would have gone differently if the organisation had pulled together and not worked at cross purposes.
The PM has shown a willingess to compromise with the RSS-VHP, by hinting that if the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case doesn’t go Ram Lalla’s way, he will be open to exploring the idea of a legislation. The RSS is not convinced, perhaps because it is unsure that the SC verdict will arrive before the elections are notified, in which case a legislation would be ruled out.
Another section of the BJP subscribes to the view that the development agenda will not appeal to voters. Only by polarising the electorate on the Ram Mandir issue can caste consolidation be ensured and this alone can counter the Opposition’s mahagathbandhan. Besides, just by bringing an Ordinance or a Bill, it can put the Congress in an awkward position. Any legislation will need Parliamentary approval, which means the Opposition will be compelled to take a public stand for or against the Ram Mandir. As the PM pointedly observed, it is the “Congress” lawyers who had sought to defer a judicial verdict.
One way or another, Ram Janambhoomi appears all set to become an issue. Even if the PM refuses to consider an Ordinance or a Bill, the RSS has indicated that it will continue to whip up sentiments around it. Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray has already taken the lead; first, by appearing in Ayodhya just before the VHP’s dharam sansad in November and then, by taunting the PM for his “Ram is not bigger than the law” stance.
Back in 2002, the then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had a similar face-off with the VHP. Vajpayee was so determined not to give way to the VHP that he reportedly threatened to resign and call for an early election. The RSS deployed its number three, Madan Das Devi, to negotiate with the VHP and persuade it to await the judicial verdict, which came only in 2010.
The difference today is that the VHP is no longer the force it was in NDA I. Under Ashok Singhal, who passed away in 2015, it was capable of massive mobilisation. The VHP did manage to stage a huge rally last month at the Ram Lila Maidan in Delhi, but whether it can still electrify the masses remains to be seen.
It must be noted here that the RSS-VHP does not for one minute believe that their case lacks legal merit. The Allahabad High Court’s 2 to 1 majority verdict cannot be easily set aside. The HC had dismissed the Sunni Wakf Board’s suit (no. 4) for possession as time-barred, whereas that of Ram Lalla (suit no. 5) suffers no such legal infirmity. The fear is that the SC might deliver a favourable verdict at a time when the BJP is no longer part of the ruling dispensation. The relentless traction afforded by the issue to the BJP would be gone for good.
For the BJP, an RSS-led campaign for the Ram Mandir is not necessarily a bad thing, because it underlines the commitment of the saffron forces to the cause. The differing views on strategy – judicial verdict versus legislation – will be subsumed, if it snowballs into an election issue.
Bhavdeep Kang is a senior journalist with 35 years of experience, she is now an independent writer and author.