Gujarat Cong in Catch-22 over Ram Temple event as GPCC chief invokes Shankaracharyas for rain check

Modhwadia criticised the Congress in a X post on January 10, tagging the Congress statement issued by AICC general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh earlier that day. The Congress announced that party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have “respectfully declined” the invitation to attend the Ayodhya event. The Congress charged that the Ram Temple has been turned into a “political project” by the BJP and the RSS and that the consecration event has been brought forward for “electoral gain” in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

GPCC president and Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil told The Indian Express that it was “an expression of his (Modhwadia’s) opinion”, calling it an example of the party’s “internal democracy”.

Gohil has also issued a statement in support of the Shankaracharyas’ decision not to attend the Ram Temple inauguration, claiming that it was in alignment with what the Congress felt about the event.

In a video posted on social media Friday, Gohil said that as a Hindu, he held the word of the Shankaracharyas supreme, and stood by their decision to not attend the pran prathistha (consecration) of a temple that was “incomplete”. All the four Shankaracharyas have reportedly decided to give the Ayodhya event a miss as “it was not being carried out as per Hindu scriptures”.

“What bigger a day than Ram Navami to do the pran prathistha, but no…when you can’t get votes for your work then encash them in the name of Ram ahead of an election,” Gohil says in the video.

He goes on to add how “each and every Congressman” would visit the Temple when the Shankaracharyas would declare it “complete”.

In the December 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress had put up its worst performance, plunging to 17 seats in the 182-member House from 77 seats it had won in 2017.

Citing the example of Rahul Gandhi, who had visited Dwarkadhish and many other temples in Gujarat during his election campaign in 2017, Gohil also says in his video that one did not need “an invitation” to go to a temple. “This is an event by the BJP, and it is necessary to not acknowledge such a political event at the time of elections.”

Modhwadia had said in his January 10 tweet, “Lord Ram is a reigning deity. This is a subject of the belief and faith of the people of the country, the @INCIndia should stay away from making such political decisions.”

Subsequently, Modhwadia has refused to comment on the matter. He has also not deleted his tweet. Sources said that at least “three senior leaders of the AICC called up Modhwadia requesting that he delete the tweet” but he stood by it.

Gohil said, “He (Modhwadia) is not going against the party line, he has just expressed his opinion”.

A state Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, said, “Jairam Ramesh’s statement sounds like a boycott…when the entire country is Ram may (immersed in the Lord) this looks as if Congress is opposing Lord Ram. As a party we could have been more tactful”.

The leader also feels that the party leadership “acted in haste”. “They could have done it a few days ahead of the inauguration, now they have handed an issue on a platter to the BJP”.

The Congress party has not won a single Lok Sabha seat out of 26 in Gujarat in the last two parliamentary polls in 2014 and 2019. The party is planning to form an alliance with the AAP for the coming polls, but it has not been stitched up yet.

The Congress’s tally in the Assembly dipped to 16 last month after Khambhat MLA Chirag Patel quit the party.

In his 2017 poll campaign, Rahul, who was then the AICC chief, had camped in Gujarat for long periods and visited at least 27 temples, although party leaders did not attribute that alone to its good showing then. “There were a lot of contributing factors, including the fact that the workers were enthused after the election of Ahmed Patel to the Rajya Sabha when the BJP had taken away 17 of our MLAs, then the farmers were angry and there was the Patidar agitation”, says a senior party leader.

Although it is not clear if any Gujarat Congress leaders have been invited to the Ayodhya event,

the VHP has begun an aggressive campaign, distributing leaflets and “akshat” (rice grains used for worship) to households across Gujarat. Western Railways has announced four special trains to Ayodhya from Gujarat and one from Indore in February, which will be called “Astha Express”. A private airline has announced a direct flight to Ayodhya. State Congress leaders, watching such a “build-up” to the Temple inauguration, see it as a “campaign for the BJP” in the Lok Sabha polls.