Babri verdict shadow on polls

The Allahabad High Court verdict on land ownership of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex in Ayodhya on September 24, has cast a shadow on the BJP’s approach towards next month’s assembly elections in Bihar. Rai Atul Krishna reports.

The Allahabad High Court verdict on land ownership of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex in Ayodhya on September 24, has cast a shadow on the BJP’s approach towards next month’s assembly elections in Bihar.

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Unsure of how the ruling may impact its poll prospects and preparations, a wary BJP is keen to underplay the matter.

"The BJP’s known position on the Ayodhya issue is not shared by its senior Bihar coalition partner, the JD-U. Alive to the possibility that its post-verdict stand may affect its ties with the JD-U, the BJP has launched a quiet campaign to persuade its workers not to over-react to the court decision," said a senior BJP leader.

Bihar BJP president C.P. Thakur admitted that his party was treading on the issue with caution. "We are telling party workers to react with equanimity to the verdict — whatever it may be," he told HT.

Thakur said the matter came up for discussion during top Bihar BJP leaders’ day-long meeting here on Saturday with Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi.

"The RSS and BJP leaders present shared the view that the court verdict ought to be accepted with calmness and composure, especially as appealing in the Supreme Court remained an option in the event of an adverse verdict," Thakur said.

But others are not sure the BJP can control the political aftermath of a verdict it may not like. "A whole generation of BJP workers has grown witnessing Ayodhya as the lynchpin of the party’s agenda. To make it see the issue otherwise won’t be so easy," said political strategist P.K. Sinha, who is now a leading light of an anti-NDA front in Bihar.

Then, there was the matter of a welter of Hindutva organisations, which seem to be under nobody’s control. "Together with similar Muslim organisations, there remains a possibility of reactions and counter-reactions to the verdict. As such, extreme vigilance is advised," Sinha said.