Even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party attempts to rekindle the communally sensitive issue of building a Ram temple in Ayodhya, a large number of sadhus in the city—most of them old friends of the BJP—are creating new problems for its temple strategy before next year’s general election. On 5 October, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad—which, like the BJP, is affiliated to the Sangh Parivar—held a meeting at its headquarters in Delhi with the declared objective of drawing a roadmap for the construction of the Ram temple. Fifty sadhus with ties to the organisation participated, but only five of them were from Ayodhya, the nerve centre of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
The sadhus of Ayodhya, meanwhile, have begun an agitation of their own. Paramhans Das, the mahant of the Tapaswi Chhawani temple in the city’s Ramghat neighbourhood, began a hunger strike on 1 October demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi pass legislation that removes all roadblocks to constructing the Ram temple. The venue of his fast, opposite his temple, has drawn a number of local sadhus, some of whom have been constantly raising anti-BJP slogans. Their protest threatens the internal cohesion of the VHP and risks jeopardising an important support base for the BJP.
“Our demand is simple,” Paramhans Das, who has for years been an active supporter of the VHP, told me over the phone. “The BJP must fulfil its election promise regarding the construction of the Ram temple before the government’s term ends. We have found that there is hardly anything to gain by waiting further. In the next few months, the general election will be announced and the model code of conduct will be imposed. The BJP will once again start seeking the people’s vote for the construction of the Ram temple. That is why I decided not to wait any longer and sat on fast.”
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