Congress missed a big opportunity by boycotting the Pran Pratistha ceremony of Ram Temple.

PV Narasimha Rao, the former Prime Minister of the country and a lifelong member of Congress, had said, “We can fight BJP but how can we fight Lord Ram?” But it seems that Congress has made a similar mistake by rejecting the invitation by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla. Whatever arguments the Congress may have given to justify its decision of not attending the Pran Pratistha ceremony of Ram Temple or whatever arguments the party leaders may give in the coming days, one thing is as clear as glass that the country’s The majority of Hindu people will not accept it.

In fact, even before independence, Congress was a little confused about the interests of the majority society i.e. Hindus. This confusion continued within the Congress even after the partition of the country and India’s independence. Even at that time, most of the Congress leaders were well-wishers of Hindus and were not in favor of giving any concession to Muslims after the partition of the country on the basis of religion. But after the death of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, such thinking leaders in Congress started getting sidelined and gradually Congress started leaning completely in favor of Muslims.

The extent to which Congress’s image has become that of a pro-Muslim party in the country can be gauged from the report of its senior Congress leader and former Union Minister AK Antony. After losing badly to Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the then Congress President Sonia Gandhi had formed a committee under the chairmanship of AK Antony to analyze the reasons for the defeat. This committee had believed that most of the Hindus in the country did not vote for Congress considering it to be a party of Muslims.

However, after this, Congress again tried to return towards soft Hindutva. In the 2017 assembly elections in Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi returned to soft Hindutva and gave a tough fight to the BJP and in that election, the BJP was able to save its government with great difficulty, but after this the Congress again returned to its old ways.

Congress’s dilemma is continuously increasing. The national leadership of the same Congress whose former Chief Ministers Bhupesh Baghel and Kamal Nath have been trying to cut off the Hindutva politics of BJP by worshiping Lord Ram in their respective states and Kamal Nath is still engaged in his efforts, Has rejected the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla.

Now it is being said that Congress has missed a big opportunity by boycotting the consecration ceremony of Ram temple. Since the beginning of Narendra Modi’s era in the country’s politics, the politics of minorityism and appeasement is continuously taking a back seat and Congress is also understanding this very well. Most of the Congress leaders realize that now it is not only difficult but also impossible to defeat BJP by playing minority politics without taking along the majority community of the country, Hindus. In fact, this program of Ram Mandir was a big opportunity for Congress when it could start a new politics and assure the majority society of the country that Congress is now ready to move forward taking everyone along without any discrimination, but unfortunately. Congress has missed this big opportunity and now as per its political style, BJP will try to corner and expose Congress at every level through an aggressive campaign, which will not be easy for the Congress leaders to face or respond. . Looking at the political environment of the country, it can also be said that the condition of Congress, which is trying to cater to both majority and minority, may end up being ‘neither Maya Mili nor Ram Wali’.

-Santosh Pathak

The author is a senior journalist and columnist.