BJP leverages Ayodhya Ram temple to push saffron agenda in Karnataka
New Ram temples crop up, Bengaluru gets a coat of saffron paint, and 'akshata' gets distributed; here's Part 1 of a 2-part series
The planned temple consecration ceremony at Ayodhya has given the BJP in Karnataka a grand opportunity to aggressively push the Hindu religion, after lying low since the electoral rout of 2023.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leaving no stone unturned to reap what it thinks will be the political benefits of the much-awaited and strategically-timed event at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
Bengaluru goes saffron
Party workers have painted cosmopolitan Bengaluru in saffron to drum up support from the Hindu community with an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Leaders and workers of the BJP and allied groups are busy trying to connect with Hindu households in Karnataka by ‘sanitising’ various temples across the state. BJP MP Ananthkumar Hegde, also a hardcore RSS member who was lying low, is using the Ram temple consecration to claim a ticket from the Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency.
Mosques threatened
Recently, he threatened to demolish mosques in Bhatkal, Srirangapatna and Sirsi but the government swiftly acted against him. A case was filed against Hegde for spreading hate.
Sensing trouble, senior BJP leaders, including Karnataka state president BY Vijayendra and Union minister Prahlad Joshi, distanced themselves from Hegde.
R Ashok, the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, is using the opportunity to portray himself as a mass leader of the Vokkaliga community, to which he belongs.
New Ram temples spring up
Ashok has even announced the construction of a temple of Lord Ram near his office in Padmanabhanagar.
Another Vokkaliga leader, CN Ashwath Narayan, is promising to build a magnificent Ram temple in Ramanagar district.
Last year, the then chief minister Basavaraja Bommai had announced that the Rama Devara Betta (Lord Ram’s Hill), where a Ram temple is coming up, will be uplifted.
'Ayodhya of South India'
Aswatha Narayan, who was the district-in-charge minister of Ramanagar, had promised to develop the place as the Ayodhya of south India.
At the same time, BJP leaders, especially from Ballari, Gadag, Koppal, Vijayanagar and Chitradurga, are trying to develop Anjanadri hill which they say is the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. The Anjaneya temple atop the hill has been receiving a large number of devotees since last week.
Right-wings groups and BJP leaders are on a temple cleaning spree in Karnataka
Temple cleaning
Many BJP leaders in Karnataka have also started cleaning premises of various temples on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call ahead of the Ayodhya event of January 22.
BJP state president Vijayendra took part in one such cleaning campaign at the Huchuraya Swamy temple in Shikaripura of Shivamogga district.
Ashwath Narayan and state general secretaries P Rajeev and Preetam Gowda participated in cleaning of the Kodandarama temple in Bengaluru. R Ashok did his part at a Ganesha temple in Jayanagar in Bengaluru.
Siddaramaiah’s call
Countering the BJP’s ‘temple politics’, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called upon the Dalits and backward classes against visiting temples that shut their doors to them.
“You build your own temples and consecrate your own gods and deities and pray there,” he said.
BJP state president B Y Vijayendra distributing Akshata to households as part of preparation of consecration ceremony at Ayodhya
Sacred rice
The BJP and Sangh Parivar activists have also distributed akshata (sacred rice smeared with turmeric and vermilion) as well as images of the Ayodhya temple to a very large number of households in Karnataka.
They have also advised people to light five lamps on the eve of January 22.