The Gandhi siblings, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, never visited the Ram Temple, even when they went to Ayodhya. Rahul was the first Gandhi family member to go to Ayodhya in 2016 since the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 — but he only visited the Hanumangarhi temple and did not go to the Ram Temple. His sister, Priyanka Gandhi, did the same in her first visit to Ayodhya in 2019. The January 22 invite was a chance for their mother, Sonia Gandhi, to correct those wrongs, but it was not to be. Sonia, and top Congress leaders, have declined the invite.
Even Congress workers and some INDIA partners would be upset with this decision, along with party leaders in states — especially in Uttar Pradesh. Already, Congress leaders like Acharya Pramod from Uttar Pradesh and Arjun Modhawadia from Gujarat have termed the decision as wrong. Some like Vikramaditya Singh from Himachal Pradesh had declared they would go to Ayodhya on January 22. Congress leaders in UP and Karnataka were planning a celebration of the January 22 event. AAP is eagerly awaiting an invite for the Ayodhya ceremony.
At a time when there is an atmosphere of religious fervour in the country ahead of the Ram Temple coming into being, the decision by the Congress only cements the charge of the BJP that the Grand Old Party does not stand with the sentiments of the Hindus, the majority community. This is fatal for the chances of the Congress, and by default of INDIA, in the Lok Sabha elections. The impact of the comment on ‘eliminating Sanatan Dharma’ by Udayanidhi Stalin of the DMK, and its tacit backing by the Congress, reflected in the recent three state poll results.
The decision also shows that the Leftist mind-set of a section is prevailing in the Congress, and almost in conjunction with Sitaram Yechury’s stand on the January 22 event. Rahul Gandhi’s decision to launch his Yatra from January 14 before the Ram Temple event, and skip Ayodhya while travelling through many other cities of UP, is another testament to the current mind-set dominating the Congress philosophy. It is a path destined to lead to a third loss in 2024.
Congress has fallen in the trap thrown at it by invitation to Sonia Gandhi and the top Congress leadership for the January 22 event. The decline of the invite has landed a straight issue in the hands of the BJP and PM Modi who will legitimately tell the electorate that the Congress has disregarded the sentiments of Hindus by refusing to attend the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of Lord Ram. This would add to the earlier missteps by Congress, like a lawyer from the party appealing to Supreme Court earlier to delay the judicial decision on the Ram Temple issue.
Congress workers on the ground will face a tough time explaining to the electorate in a few months’ time why their leadership did not go to the Ram Temple on January 22 after being invited. Such decisions cement a perception in the minds of people to punish the party at the polling booth — like Rahul Gandhi’s act of tearing up an ordinance passed by his party’s own Manmohan Singh government in 2013 cemented the perception that it was a remote-controlled government. Rahul’s decision to charge Narendra Modi with corruption in Rafale purchase in 2019 was a similar disaster as people saw Modi as non-corrupt.
Congress’s decision now on the Ayodhya event could be their third disaster that delivers 2024 to the BJP.
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