Rahul Gandhi visited more than a dozen temples in the past two months in Gujarat—more than what Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a hindutva icon, did. It rings a bell.
It is a change of strategy by the Congress. With demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax hitting the Gujarat traders hard, and the caste sentiments on the boil, Rahul has tweaked the party’s game plan. As a result, there has been no reference of Muslims, or the 2002 communal riots.
“Am I not allowed to visit temples?” asked the Congress vice president, responding to the criticism that followed his visits to major temples in the poll-bound state. “I am a devotee of Lord Shiva. Let them say whatever they want to say. My truth is with me,” he said.
It was a rare declaration of faith from Rahul, though it was not his first high-profile temple visit. With his vermilion-smeared-forehead flashed everywhere, he aims to put to rest any whisper campaign over his ‘Hinduness’. His mother, Sonia, was often attacked over her foreign origin and faith.
The change of strategy became visible when Rahul kickstarted the Gujarat campaign with a visit to the Dwarkadhish Temple on September 25. The priests showed him the entries of the visits of his father and grandmother, and recorded his visit by emphasising his Brahmin credentials. Indira Gandhi last visited the temple on May 18, 1980, and Rajiv on February 10, 1990.
Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah had made temple visits central to their political strategy. Elaborate rituals during such visits had endeared them to the Hindu electorate. “The Congress has to change the narrative of the campaign. If they go by traditional style, it will be very difficult for them to match the might of the BJP,” said Prof Sanjay Kumar, director of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. “Now, there is a conscious effort on the part of the Congress leadership to change the nature of the campaign by reaching out to those people and symbols, which they have not consciously done in the past.”
Rahul’s temple run has not gone unnoticed. The BJP, especially, seems alarmed. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath mocked Rahul saying he did not even know how to sit in the Kashi temple. BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav, who is in charge of party affairs in Gujarat, called it an election stunt. “Visiting temples is part of Indian culture. But this must come naturally and not just during elections,” he said. BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said the Congress leadership remembered God and the people only when they faced challenges.
Congress MP Sushmita Dev, however, did not find anything unusual in Rahul’s temple visits. “Gujarat is a highly religious state. Requests had come from various communities asking Rahul to visit their local deities. Based on requests he can visit even a church and a mosque,” she said.
Though Rahul’s temple visits did not help the Congress in the assembly elections in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, he appears more surefooted this time around. “I thank the BJP as the defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was the best thing to happen to me. The BJP had beaten me and abused me so much that it opened up my eyes,” he said in a rare admission of his political journey during an interaction in Vadodara on October 9.
There has been an effort by the Congress not to ignore Hindu sentiments ever since the Mathura chintan shivir in 2015. “In 2014, the Congress’s defeat was because of various factors,” said Sanjay Kumar. “One of them was large sections of voters seeing the Congress as a party engaging in appeasement of Muslims at the cost of neglecting the Hindus. In states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam where the Congress is in direct contest with the BJP, the party expects to get the Muslim votes by default. Hence, what they are trying to do is to reach out to Hindus and give a message that they care for the majority community.”
