The Declaration of Rahul Gandhi: An Expression of Ideological Resolution

Gandhi is expressing an ideological conviction that he wants his own party to understand and embrace when he makes this statement.

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The Significance of Rahul Gandhi’s Declaration on “Defeating the Ram Temple Movement”

The movement that Advani ji started was defeated at Ayodhya and was centered around Ayodhya. I’m going to make a crucial point here. In an address to his party’s members last week in Ahmedabad, Rahul Gandhi declared, “The Congress Party and the INDIA Block defeated them in Ayodhya.” The media and commentators have failed to recognize the gravity of this statement.

Rahul Gandhi did not describe reality in his words. It ought to be interpreted as a declaration of intent instead. He asserted that the INDIA Block had crushed the Ram Temple campaign in Ayodhya, which was headed by prominent BJP leader LK Advani. This speech was delivered at a meeting after BJP employees in Ahmedabad attacked the Congress party office. Rahul Gandhi may have made this assertion to raise party members’ spirits.
‘Defeating the Ram Temple Movement’: An Interpretation

In his remarks, Rahul Gandhi brought up the recent general elections, in which the BJP was defeated for the Lok Sabha constituency of Faizabad. Lallu Singh of the BJP lost against Avadhesh Pasi, the candidate of the Samajwadi Party (SP). This parliamentary constituency includes Ayodhya.

It is immensely symbolic that a Dalit candidate defeated the BJP in a location that is thought to be the hub of Hindutva politics. The BJP is now defensive as a result of this one setback. This was fully exploited by the opposition to humiliate the BJP at the first sitting of the 18th Lok Sabha. Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, the MP for Kannauj, shook hands with Pasi, who was sat in the front row between them. BJP MPs were crying when they saw Pasi grin. By the way, Lord Ram goes by several names. One of them is Avadhesh.

Upon learning of their setback, the BJP made fun of it, claiming that Faizabad, not Ayodhya, was where they lost. They now have to feel horrible about the Uttar Pradesh government’s 2018 decision to rename the Faizabad district as Ayodhya, with the intention of making people associate Ayodhya with the district and forget about Faizabad. Paradoxically, many who were against the renaming now refer to Ayodhya, while the BJP is adamant about discussing Faizabad.

It seems sense that they would lose in Faizabad, but how could they lose in Ayodhya? The loss of this seat, whether it is in Faizabad or Ayodhya, has rocked the BJP. After losing the election, the BJP and its allies waged a vicious hate campaign against the Hindu population of Ayodhya, calling for an economic boycott and accusing them of betraying them in spite of the BJP having built them a state-of-the-art Ram temple, an airport, and other facilities. Is there a greater act of ingratitude?

Rahul Gandhi gave an explanation for the setback after declaring that the Ram Temple campaign in Ayodhya had been defeated. Because the BJP had stolen their land, their means of subsistence, and had made their lives miserable, the people of Ayodhya abandoned the party. The explanations were essentially unremarkable. Can the Ram Temple movement therefore be considered defeated? Could it be considered a defeat for the BJP’s ideology?

Rahul Gandhi’s statement was part of a speech to his party members and supporters in Ahmedabad. The Congress had suffered a severe defeat in Gujarat, and BJP workers had attacked their office. As the party leader, it was Gandhi’s duty to invigorate his people. This explains his claim that if the BJP can be defeated in Ayodhya, which it had made the centerpiece of its election campaign, it can also be defeated in Gujarat. Remember, BJP’s main propagandist Narendra Modi was saying that if BJP didn’t win, Congress would lock up the Ram Temple. The people of Ayodhya rejected this.

But the question remains, can this be called the defeat of the Ram Temple movement? Gandhi’s statement should be understood as an expression of ideological resolve that he wants his own party to comprehend and adopt. Remembering Advani
It was significant that Gandhi mentioned Advani. By doing so, he implied that the Ram Temple should be associated with Advani rather than Modi. He meant that the temple emerged from a movement led by Advani, with Modi as his associate.

For those who have observed the journey of the BJP and its predecessor, the Jan Sangh, the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was the most significant effort to dominate Indian politics. The Ram Janmabhoomi movement transformed Hindu faith into Hindutva. It popularized a history of persecution among Hindus and turned them into avengers. Who was a Hindu? One who hated Muslims.