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Advani’s Rath Yatra reshaped country’s politics
The announcement of conferring Bharat Ratna to LK Advani is expected to keep the temple sentiments in focus ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Saturday announcement that the country’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna would be conferred on BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani, 96, was widely hailed, including by saints from Ayodhya, a fortnight after PM Modi inaugurated a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Advani’s Ayodhya Rath Yatra in the 1990s is widely credited for reshaping country’s politics and helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerge as a potent political force.
Also read: Bharat Ratna to LK Advani: Politician who catapulted BJP to national reckoning
The Ram temple inauguration is expected to influence the Lok Sabha polls due in April-May. Perhaps this is why some within the BJP admit that the announcement would also help keep the temple sentiments in focus as Advani was among the leading lights of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
“There couldn’t have been a better tribute to Advani ji that the country’s highest civilian award for his immense contributions came in his lifetime,” said Ayodhya-based chief priest of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Satyendra Das.
“It is indeed fitting that days after the temple inauguration, the party remembered its leader who not only stood for probity in public life but whose Ayodhya Rath Yatra in the 90s changed the political discourse, helping the BJP rise from 2 Lok Sabha seats to prominence in national politics. Even now, if you heard Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, he said the award would help BJP connect better with its core voters,” a BJP leader said.
“It’s true that Advani ji’s Rath Yatra brought the temple issue in focus and changed the political discourse. The entire Ayodhya today is elated at the announcement,” said BJP’s Ayodhya lawmaker Lallu Singh.
Another BJP leader felt that the award would also act like a “soothing balm” for the cadres, many of whom were upset at the rather brusque statement by VHP veteran and Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai.
In December, Rai had bluntly said Advani along with another veteran Murli Manohar Joshi had been requested to not attend the consecration ceremony due to advancing age and health considerations.
Rai’s remarks had drawn a backlash with many from within the BJP-VHP and RSS admitting that such remarks didn’t go down well with the cadres, many of whom consider Advani as a pioneer of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Though Advani’s Somnath-Ayodhya Rath Yatra was cut short at Samastipur in Bihar after the then Lalu Yadav government arrested Advani, there is near unanimity among BJP and RSS cadres that it was that yatra that not only helped counter the “Mandal politics” by uniting Hindus to the temple cause but also help the BJP in a big way in the Hindi heartland.
“The momentum provided by Advani ji’s Rath Yatra helped reshape the political discourse and also led to the establishment of the first BJP government in UP under Kalyan Singh was formed in 1991,” a BJP leader said.
That’s why perhaps immediately after senior VHP leaders visited Advani and Joshi and invited them for the January 22 temple inauguration. Both weren’t, however, present at the inauguration ostensibly due to age considerations.
“For people in Ayodhya, who are elated at the Ram Mandir inauguration, this announcement for respected Advani ji is like an extension of celebrations for it was him who pioneered this movement and whose fitting finale by way of Ram temple inauguration happened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Vishva Hindu Parishad’s Ayodhya-based spokesman Sharad Sharma.
“There were many BJP cadres who while being all praise for considerably phenomenal achievements of PM Narendra Modi and the way he helped realise the core issues that BJP and its previous avatar Jan Sangh had advocated for decades, nursed a desire for more recognition for Advani ji. Not just his role for temple cause, the way he led his political life, resigning on a mere allegation and not letting any of his children enter politics to effectively countering the Congress over dynastic rule charge, the contributions of Advani ji are far too many and in that sense the award for him is automatically good PR for the government as all opposition too has welcomed it,” a BJP leader said.
