Summary:
Hitherto ideologically untouchable, temples and mosques are now the most preferred destinations to pay obeisance by the two top leaders of the top two national parties before hitting any election-related trail.
By Alok Verma
.
Politically expediency has made the two leaders realize that howsomuchover they talk about the good governance, indulge in pro-poor rhetoric, the religion and its symbols cannot be overlooked to please the voters.
India is a deeply religious society, and play of religion in public life is quite natural.
Hence, any party which wants to be relevant in Indian politics at the national level would have to create space for religious ethos.
The Hindutva card has been played very well by the BJP in all the electoral triumphs that the party scored over the Congress party.
Since 2014 after the BJP came into power there has been a struggle for the Congress party to be going closer to any of the symbols of the majority community sentiments as it feared compromising its secular credentials.
But the ruling BJP party has not ever missed an opportunity to use religion for its political goals and builds its entire narrative around religion.
Therefore, the recent overture of Rahul Gandhi visiting temples or taking a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar is his late realization of the growing influence of the religion on Indian politics.
The Congress party seems to have recrafted its poll strategy that while important political issues like rising unemployment, weak economy, social strife, inflation, petrol prices etc may still be used by them to make political diatribe against the BJP, it would also embrace religious pluralism to look more accommodative towards majority sentiments.
Despite opening up himself to the charges of compromising secular credentials Rahul Gandhi has probably decided to make himself and his party more relevant at the national level by bowing before the religious ethos.