How declining Ayodhya Pran Pratishtha invitation is costing Congress electorally?

The Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya marked a significant milestone following a prolong legal and social battle. The country was immersed in celebratory fervour, with widespread participation. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra extended invitations to prominent figures from across the country, including senior leaders of the Congress party. However, the Congress leadership, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, opted to decline the invitation.

In their refusal, the Congress party categorised the event as an RSS and BJP affair, emphasising that religion is a personal matter. In its official statement, Congress said, “…Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain. While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event”.

However, the aftermath of the Congress party’s decision to decline participation in the historic Pran Pratishtha has sparked discontent within the party, leading to a series of resignations as members express disillusionment with what they perceive as an anti-Sanatan stance. The Congress Party finds itself confronted with a growing exodus of members dissatisfied with its position on Sanatan Dharma.

Recently, Gourav Vallabh, a spokesperson for  Congress, made headlines as he resigned from all positions within the party, citing discomfort with the leadership. Vallabh expressed his inability to support anti-Sanatan slogans and criticised the party’s stance on the country’s wealth creators.

In a poignant letter addressed to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Vallabh highlighted feeling suffocated by the party’s economic stance and criticised its absence from the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event in Ayodhya. He emphasised his Hindu identity and voiced frustration with the party’s perceived silence on Sanatan issues, eventually leading to his decision to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 4.

On a similar note, Anil Sharma, former Bihar Congress president, also joined the BJP, citing the Congress’s refusal to participate in the Ayodhya event as a decisive factor. Sharma emphasised his support for the construction of the Ram Mandir and questioned  Congress’s stance on Sanatan issues.

Additionally, Acharya Pramod Krishnam faced expulsion from the Congress party for criticising its absence at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Pran Pratistha ceremony. Krishnam’s remarks on social media underscored his commitment to Ram and the nation, echoing sentiments expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the temple’s inauguration. These departures and resignations, including former Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia, Congress spokesperson and former social media chief of Congress in Gujarat Rohan Gupta, among others, signal a growing discontent within the Congress party over its perceived disconnect from key societal and cultural issues.

The Ideological Confusion

Besides leadership and organisation, Congress has been grappling with the ideological issues of ‘secularism’ and ‘socialism’ which came to the fore on Ram Mandir and Adani-Ambani issues.

Recent in the list and senior among all who left the Congress party, Sanjay Nirupam said that the influence of Leftists within the Congress was still significant. Just as Communism had ideologically expired after 1991, the life-span of ‘Nehruvian secularism’ was over after 70 years.

“There are Leftists who hover round Rahul Gandhi and their influence is predominant. Such people had defiantly opposed the Ram Temple consecration ceremony. While nobody raised any question on the consecration ceremony itself, only the Congress’ letter (refusing to attend the ceremony) specifically alleges that the event was the BJP’s propaganda. In doing so, the party denied the spirituality of the moment,” said Sanjay Nirupam.

The biggest shortcoming of the Congress was that when the invitation for Pran Prathistha came, the party leadership didn’t even discuss it in the Working Committee before declining it” — Rasheed Kidwai, political analyst

Senior political analyst and author Rasheed Kidwai told Organiser, “The biggest shortcoming of the Congress was that when the invitation for Pran Prathistha came, the party leadership didn’t even discuss it in the Working Committee before declining it. If there was a discussion on it, then there would be a consensus in the discussion and after that opinion, no one would have got an opportunity to raise a finger again.”

Kidwai recalling an incident of May 2022 Chintan Shivir of the Congress, “Let me give you one instance from the past. The Chintan Shivir of the Congress was held in Udaipur. In the Chintan Shivir, some 150 party representatives from North and Central India seek permission from the party to celebrate the festivities of Dahi Handi, Navaratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, etc. They appealed that the offices of the District Congress should be allowed to perform rituals and celebrate the occasions. A few representatives from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana opposed it, and finally the proposal was kept was backburner. Jairam Ramesh and others didn’t allow the issue to materialise,”

He added, “Think about it. A party which still has 20 per cent vote share, and more than one crore membership has to tap the mood of the nation. People wish to celebrate the festivities but party is reticent about it. Why? The Congress of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi never made mistakes in tapping the mood of the nation, but the Congress of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Khadge has failed in doing the same.”

Over the leadership issue and alleged rising influence of Left in Congress, Kidwai said, “The perception of the party is largely determined by the nature of the leadership. People and many analysts name groupings and coterie for the change in the nature of the party, but eventually, it is the leadership. Remember, even in the times of Indira Gandhi, Left had a dominant presence within the Congress. But nobody said that Mrs Gandhi is Leftist, did they? Even Jawaharlal Nehru kept Communists at an arm’s distance, and he always remained determined regarding the national interest.”

He further added, “Congress today has miserably failed in tapping the mood of the nation and has become reluctant in finding a course for plain sailing in national politics. Afterall, the party is operating in a democracy and there must be an internal democracy within its structures. If Rahul Gandhi is credited with victory in Karnataka or Telangana, he should take blame for reverses in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.”

Another senior journalist and author Deep Halder told me, “Fence sitting is no longer an option in Indian politics. The Congress should have taken a firm stand on this issue. Either be part of the Ayodhya celebrations or say it was not their movement to begin with. The BJP put them in a Catch 22 situation, because they could do neither. To have done the first would have put their seal of approval on a movement which the BJP owns right from the LK Advani set out on his Rath Yatra. To say the second would have alienated a large chunk of Hindu votes. But this non-commital stance is hardly beneficial for the Congress in a rather polarised political atmosphere. The middle has ceased to exist in India politics today.

Ravi Tripathi, a seasoned journalist specialising in Indian politics, remarked, “The Congress committed a grave error by declining the invitation for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony. The party aims to portray itself as secular. If we recall, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru refrained himself from visiting the Somnath temple after its reconstruction. Intriguingly, he attempted to dissuade then-President Dr. Rajendra Prasad from attending the Pran Pratishtha, but Prasad defied Nehru’s stance and participated in the Pran Pratishtha.”

“While it’s true that leaders are exiting the party, citing the Congress’s perceived anti-Sanatan stance, we must also acknowledge that they don’t see a promising future within India’s oldest political party,” he said.

The increasing number of resignations highlights a profound dissatisfaction within the Congress party regarding its stance on Sanatan Dharma, posing a significant challenge for its leadership as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections approach.