Several Ramlila mandals keep politicians off stages and banners, raising questions about whether it is a move to remove politics from religion or tactical distancing from the BJP in the wake of Ayodhya temple controversies
For three decades, the BJP has built much of its political identity around Lord Ram, from LK Advani’s Rath Yatra to the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Religious symbolism, electoral mobilisation and the promise of reclaiming a civilisational inheritance became intertwined, helping the BJP establish what often appeared to be an exclusive political claim over Ram.
This Dussehra, however, that association is encountering an unexpected complication. Several Ramlila mandals across the country, including organisations with BJP leaders among their office-bearers or trustees, are insisting that religion and politics must be kept separate. Some are going further, acknowledging that their earlier embrace of partisan politics may have alienated devotees who don't share the BJP’s worldview.
Why course correction now?
“There are many devotees who might not subscribe to the BJP’s worldview. We felt we were alienating them. Religion shouldn’t discriminate like that, so we made a change to separate the two,” says Arjun Kumar, president of Delhi’s Luv Kush Ramlila and a representative of the Delhi-based Shri Ramlila Mahasangh.
Over the years, these religious and cultural platforms have frequently accommodated political patronage, prominent political guests and partisan symbolism. The relationship was mutually beneficial: politicians gained access to a large, emotionally invested audience, while organisers enjoyed visibility, influence and access to power.
Kumar concedes that a course correction was necessary. His explanation, however, leaves a larger question unanswered: why now?
The political association of Ramlila celebrations was hardly incidental to the mobilisation around Lord Ram that gathered momentum through the 1990s, culminating in the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, and the riots that engulfed India. Over the years, these religious and cultural platforms have frequently accommodated political patronage, prominent political guests and partisan symbolism. The relationship was mutually beneficial: politicians gained access to a large, emotionally invested audience, while organisers enjoyed visibility, influence and access to power.
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“That was a need of that time, and what we are now doing is a need of these times,” Kumar says, invoking Sanskrit maxim Aśakyaṁ nārabhet prājño akāryaṁ naiva kārayet | Yathādeśagataṁ dharmaṁ yathākālaṁ cha jīvayet (adapting to your geography and its times and expectations is essential for survival) to explain the need to adapt religious practice to changing circumstances and expectations.
The answer is revealing, even if it does not fully explain the shift. What was once considered politically expedient is now being reconsidered in the name of religious inclusivity. But whether this represents a fundamental change of principle or a response to changing political circumstances is a more difficult question.
Are controversies making mandals queasy?
One possible explanation lies in Ayodhya itself, where the temple that marked the culmination of the BJP’s decades-long political campaign has also become the focus of questions about administration, construction and the handling of devotees’ offerings.
Mahant Raju Das, head priest of Ayodhya’s Hanuman Garhi temple, believes the controversies surrounding the temple may be making political association less attractive for Ramlila organisers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending Vijaya Dashami celebrations at Delhi’s Ramlila ground in October 2018. Photo: lavkush.com
“What happens when the audience begins asking awkward questions about the alleged irregularities involving the Ayodhya temple, the waterlogging, the construction and the funds meant for temple construction, while politicians are sharing the stage with Lord Ram?” he asks.
Das sees the mandals’ move of distancing from the BJP as a possible attempt to avoid an increasingly uncomfortable association. “This newfound commitment to keeping religion and politics apart isn’t really about principle, but avoiding an increasingly uncomfortable association.”
His interpretation is pointed, but it remains a hypothesis about the organisers’ motivations. Whether the Ayodhya controversies have directly influenced their decisions requires independent corroboration. What is beyond dispute is that the political significance of the temple makes questions about its administration particularly sensitive for a party that has invested so much of its identity in its construction.
And the unease is not confined to Delhi.
When politics of Ram meets realities of vikas
In Gujarat, the BJP’s political stronghold, the distancing appears to intersect with a broader discontent over the gap between the party’s development narrative and the economic realities confronting sections of its traditional support base.
“The disillusionment with the BJP has been palpably growing,” says Sameer Garg, president of the Ram Leela Dussehra Mahotsav Mandal in Gandhidham, Kutch, which organises large annual celebrations.
Critics say the credibility of the changed stance of the mandals will depend on whether they are willing to relinquish the privileges that political association may have brought them.
“Corporate wealth and infrastructure have taken centre stage, but malnutrition, poor public services, agrarian distress, insecure jobs and youth unemployment remain glaring failures of the development model,” he says.
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Garg argues that demonetisation and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hurt small businesses, a constituency that had long supported the BJP. He also points to resentment among party workers who, he says, feel sidelined as political turncoats are accommodated within the organisation.
“The model promises vikas, but delivers unequal growth, economic insecurity and political disenchantment,” he says.
‘Mandals reflecting what public thinks’
His assessment goes beyond economic grievances. For some of the BJP’s most committed supporters, the construction of the Ram temple represented the fulfilment of a deeply held religious and political aspiration. If confidence in the institutions and leadership associated with that achievement is shaken, the consequences could extend beyond a single controversy.
The discontent, Garg suggests, has become visible in the mandal’s own dealings with the public. This year, the organisation decided not to display photographs of national, state or local BJP leaders on its banners. “Our volunteers have heard and seen the anger first-hand while going around seeking donations this year,” he says.
The decision is significant because it offers a tangible indication of how organisers are responding to public sentiment.
Principle or political recalibration?
For Dr Akshay Kulkarni, socio-political observer and author of The New India We All Deserve, the principle of separating religious celebrations from party politics is a welcome step. The timing, however, deserves scrutiny.
“Having benefited from political patronage and symbolism, these organisations cannot expect their sudden insistence on separation to go unquestioned. The question is whether they genuinely want to protect faith from partisan exploitation or whether the association has simply become less convenient,” he says.
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Kulkarni argues that the credibility of this shift will depend on whether the mandals are willing to relinquish the privileges that political association may have brought them.
“If they end partisan speeches, preferential access and electoral messaging across the board, this could represent a genuine change. But if political patrons retain their prominence while scrutiny is discouraged, it would look more like tactical distancing. The test is simple: are they giving up political privilege or merely trying to avoid political accountability?”
The same standard, he insists, must apply to the BJP, the Congress and every other political party. Neutrality cannot mean excluding one party while allowing another to use religious platforms for political messaging.
Devotion for Ram is not devotion for BJP
The questions surrounding Ayodhya make this distinction particularly important. Allegations concerning devotees’ offerings and temple administration warrant scrutiny, Kulkarni says, but allegations must not be treated as established wrongdoing without due process.
“Those who claim credit for a religious institution cannot reasonably reject every question about its administration as an attack on faith. Devotees have every right to seek transparency. Asking whether their offerings were properly safeguarded expresses concern for their faith and trust, not hostility towards either,” he says.
The construction of the Ayodhya temple may have been a defining achievement for the BJP, but it does not follow that every devotee must endorse the party or accept its account of the temple’s administration without question.
The underlying challenge is to disentangle religious devotion from political loyalty. The construction of the Ayodhya temple may have been a defining achievement for the BJP, but it does not follow that every devotee must endorse the party or accept its account of the temple’s administration without question.
“Ram’s ethical and spiritual significance must not be confused with any party’s electoral interests. A person can revere Ram, support the temple, question its administration and oppose the BJP without contradiction,” Kulkarni says.
The BJP, which for decades centred its political mobilisation on the Ram temple in Ayodhya, now finds itself alienated by some of the very platforms through which religious and political identities intersected. Photo: PTI
Dr Vishalakshi Raje, a Jabalpur-based academic whose doctoral thesis examined ‘The Use Of Religion In Identity Politics,’ has followed the Ram Janmabhoomi movement from the 1990s through the period preceding the BJP’s rise to national power in 2014 and beyond. She sees the mandals’ distancing as a development worth watching, but cautions against premature conclusions.
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“The shift,” she suggests, “could indicate a broader recalibration of Hindutva politics or an attempt to widen the appeal of religious celebrations beyond established partisan constituencies. It could also be a pragmatic effort by organisers to protect themselves from the reputational risks of an association that has become more contentious.”
For now, the critical question is whether the shift survives changes in political circumstances or disappears when the perceived risks of association recede.
Mandals called out for shifting tactic
The move towards neutrality has its detractors, including those who believe that organisations which benefited from the BJP’s political mobilisation around Ram have a moral obligation to stand by the party.
Ramnarayan Tiwari, a retired Hindi professor whose family has been associated with the aarti at the famed Chitrakoot Ramlila in Varanasi, regards the distancing as an act of disloyalty.
“When the going was good, they all benefitted from the symbiosis. When the BJP is on a sticky wicket they should not abandon the party. This is not in keeping with what the Ramayan teaches us,” he says.
Tiwari’s position exposes a deeper contradiction in the relationship between faith and politics. If the BJP’s association with Lord Ram is understood as a shared political and religious project, stepping away from the party can appear to some supporters as a repudiation of that project.
BJP says all is well
The BJP, unsurprisingly, rejects the suggestion that the decisions of some Ramlila mandals point to a broader erosion of its standing among Hindu devotees.
“This may be the handiwork of a few disgruntled people. But that is not how the majority of the Hindus of this country feel. They know the BJP, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, has worked really hard to correct a historical wrong and get the temple built in Ayodhya. Nobody can negate that,” says party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia.
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Asked whether controversies surrounding the Ayodhya temple could be contributing to the organisers’ discomfort, Bhatia sought to separate the allegations from the political debate.
“That is completely different. The SIT has been constituted and the law is taking its own course in that matter,” he says, dismissing suggestions that the mandals are avoiding the BJP because of the controversy as “Opposition-driven propaganda”.
Can mandals sustain their stance?
The significance of this Dussehra's developments lies less in the number of mandals removing politicians’ photographs from their banners than in the question they have reopened.
For decades, the BJP’s political mobilisation around Lord Ram has helped blur the boundaries between religious devotion, cultural identity and electoral allegiance. The temple in Ayodhya brought that mobilisation to its most visible culmination. Now, some of the very platforms through which religious and political identities have intersected are reconsidering the relationship.
It would be premature to interpret these decisions as evidence that the BJP is losing its broader Hindu support base. Nor can it yet be established that the controversies surrounding Ayodhya are the principal reason for the shift. Economic discontent, local experience, concerns about inclusivity and a genuine desire to reclaim religious celebrations from partisan politics may all be contributing factors, in differing proportions.
But the debate itself matters. If Ramlila mandals can accommodate devotees who support the BJP, those who oppose it and those who have no interest in party politics, they can reclaim their role as cultural and religious institutions rather than political platforms.
That would require consistency: equal access, no partisan electoral messaging, transparency in the use of donations and the freedom to question religious institutions without being accused of attacking the faith they represent.
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The test is not whether the mandals can keep politicians off their banners for one Dussehra. It is whether they can sustain that separation when political circumstances change and the incentives to restore old relationships return.
As Kulkarni puts it, “No political party owns religious faith, and no believer should have to surrender independent judgement to prove devotion.”
Three decades after Ram became the centrepiece of one of India’s most consequential political movements, the question is whether those who celebrate him are ready to reclaim that distinction – and whether the political establishment will accept it.
