Bhajans-kirtans to yajnas, Himachal Pradesh Congress uses new playbook to corner BJP over Ram Temple row

The sequence of events marks what appears to be a notable shift in the Congress’s approach. For decades, the party largely avoided overt religious mobilisation, leaving such symbolism to the BJP while presenting itself as a secular alternative. Even when accused by the BJP of being “anti-Hindu”, the Congress rarely responded through such explicit religious events.

In Himachal Pradesh, however, the party has chosen to take on the BJP on a turf traditionally linked with its arch rival, using devotional programmes to allege that it is the BJP that has “hurt” Hindu sentiments. Himachal is slated for the Assembly polls next year.

Political observers say Himachal may be the first Congress-ruled state in northern India where the party has organised statewide bhajan-kirtans and yajnas as part of its protests over the Ayodhya donation controversy.

Senior Congress leaders, including state party president Vinay Kumar, AICC spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Rathore and others, say the party’s protest campaign aims to hold the BJP “morally accountable” for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of millions of Hindus, noting that the BJP has been in power at the Centre and in UP.

‘Political opportunism’

The BJP has dismissed the Congress’s campaign, calling it “political opportunism”. BJP chief spokesperson and Sundernagar MLA Rakesh Jamwal said the Congress was “wrongly linking” the alleged theft row to the BJP even though the Ram Temple is managed by an independent trust.

“The Congress is politicising a sensitive issue by linking it with the BJP. It is a matter concerning the trust that manages the temple in Ayodhya. The BJP is nowhere involved. The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has constituted a Special Investigation Team and the culprits will not be spared… A party that opposed the construction of the Ram Temple has no moral right to attack the BJP, which sacrificed so much to make the Temple a reality,” Jamwal told The Indian Express.

The Congress, however, believes the political discourse has shifted. Rathore said the party chose bhajan-kirtans and yajnas to “expose” what it described as the BJP’s “bids to exploit religious sentiments”.

“A party that built its political base on the Ram Temple movement since the early 1990s cannot evade moral responsibility when allegations of donation theft surface at the Ram Temple, which is at the centre of the religious faith of crores of people, irrespective of their political affiliation. All the trust members and office-bearers are puppets of the BJP and RSS. An impartial probe is not possible unless the judiciary intervenes. That is why the Congress wants an inquiry monitored by a sitting Supreme Court judge,” he said.

Indicating that the Congress’s campaign may extend beyond Himachal Pradesh, Rathore said the party has already begun holding press conferences in other states and that the Punjab Congress was formulating its own strategy on the issue. “On July 13, I visited Amritsar on this issue. Along with Punjab Congress leaders, I interacted with the media. A strategy is being formulated to counter the BJP on this issue in Punjab as well,” he said.

Chandigarh Congress president Harmohinder Singh Lucky said the city unit would soon launch its own campaign to “expose the BJP’s real face”.

The religious messaging adopted by the Himachal Congress also reflects the influence of leaders such as Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh, who has consistently projected his personal association with Ram as well as Sanatan traditions.

“The Congress central leadership has directed every state party unit to chalk out its own strategy for cornering BJP on the Ram Temple issue and NEET paper leak. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is more vocal and focused on the NEET issue,” a senior Congress leader said.

Vikramaditya weighs in

Responding to BJP state president Rajeev Bindal’s charge that the Congress was “anti-Ram” and “anti-Hindu”, Vikramaditya questioned Bindal’s local roots, saying: “Bindal ji is not even Himachali. He is a native of Haryana who later settled in Himachal Pradesh. In contrast, my family has lived in Himachal for generations, serving Lord Ram, Hindu Dharma and Sanatan Sanskriti.”

His position is consistent with the stand he took ahead of the Ram Temple consecration in January 2024. Even after the Congress high command declined the invitation to attend the event, Vikramaditya announced that he would visit Ayodhya in his personal capacity to honour his late father, former Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh.