Why Samajwadi Party is cautious as it targets BJP over Ram Temple ‘theft’

“The SP wants to make the alleged theft a question of accountability under the BJP government, without giving the ruling party an opening to portray its campaign as an attack on Lord Ram, the temple or Sanatan Dharma,” an SP leader said.

Another leader said the party had not planned to aggressively raise the issue in the Assembly but decided to up the ante after ally Congress, which is spearheading the issue in Parliament, insisted that it be taken up by MLAs.

The SP’s calibrated approach stems from the repeated attacks by the BJP over the 1990 the firing on kar sevaks by the police under the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government.

The police had opened fire on volunteers attempting to reach the then disputed Ram Janmabhoomi site. The BJP has long projected the episode as evidence of the SP’s opposition to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. It has also accused the SP of boycotting the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in 2024.

The balancing act also reflects the party’s broader electoral strategy. Under Akhilesh Yadav, the party has sought to expand its PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) coalition while simultaneously reaching out to sections of upper-caste voters, particularly Brahmins, a strategy the party often describes as “PDA se Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak ke saath Pandit bhi”.

Party leaders say that makes it imperative to avoid being seen as hostile to Ram or the temple, even while seeking to hold the BJP politically accountable over developments linked to Ayodhya.

SP leaders acknowledge that, with the Assembly elections drawing closer, any attack on the BJP over the alleged theft has to be carefully framed. They fear that if the BJP succeeds in recasting the issue as an attack on the temple or on faith itself, it could blunt the Opposition’s campaign.

BJP’s counter

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s response to the Opposition’s criticism suggests the BJP’s political counter has already begun. Borrowing from Ram Gopal Yadav’s argument, Adityanath said the SP was “unnecessarily raising the issue and that no saints were involved in wrongdoing”.

At the same time, however, Yogi sought to broaden the SP’s campaign into one against Sanatan Dharma and questioned why the SP and Congress — which, he alleged, had “always disrespected Ram Janmabhoomi and Lord Ram” — were now speaking about faith.

“This is exactly the terrain SP wants to avoid,” said an SP leader. “Its strategy is to keep Ayodhya at the centre of the attack, but keep faith outside it.”

The BJP’s counter is to separate the alleged wrongdoing of individuals from the temple establishment, while forcing the SP and Congress to defend their own political record on Ram and Ayodhya.