How the Ram temple draws a new line, frames challenge for Opposition

JANUARY 22 was presaged, way back on November 9, 2019, when the Supreme Court cleared the way for the construction of the temple; and then on August 5, 2020, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the bhoomi pujan at the site in Ayodhya.

Yet, on Monday, with the nation watching, the consecration of the Ram Lalla in the new temple led by the Prime Minister marked not only a milestone in the history of the BJP-RSS but also a new chapter in national politics.

Its message was an unprecedented Hindutva surge amid statements of reconciliation from Sangh Parivar leaders who were once seen to occupy the “fringe” of mainstream Indian politics.

The date marked a state holiday in UP, and also a half day for Central government employees – the state came across as having the kind of intimacy with religious rituals that it rarely had since independence, but for that moment when the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, was present during the inauguration of the Somnath temple on May 11, 1951.

That the consecration was shown on all TV channels and livestreamed in cities and neighbourhoods across the country deepened its symbolism. Modi’s earlier call for a Diwali on the evening of January 22 also found many an echo across the country.

At the same time, there was dialing down of the rhetoric with Modi calling it a day not of vijay (victory) but of vinay (humility). RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat flagged the “hosh” (reason) amid the “josh” (passion) and the need to show restraint and work towards resolution of social disputes.

Even the Sangh’s political discourse in the run-up to the consecration was reconciliatory. BJP leader Uma Bharti, once seen as a rabble-rouser by critics, told The Indian Express that the peaceful