By Sanjay Pandey, DHNS, Lucknow
It was an event that had every ingredient to send a clear message to the majority community about the BJP’s firm commitment to the Hindutva ideology and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the saffron party’s tallest leader, made no attempt to hide it while he launched the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Project in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on Monday.
Modi, who was clad in saffron clothes, performed ‘Surya Arghya’ (offering water to the Sun), worshipped the Ganga and carried its sacred waters to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, one of the most revered places of worship for the Hindus.
Speaking after his rituals, he referred to the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb over the demolition of a large number of Hindu temples in the country, dropped ample hints about messages to send across to the majority community in the country in general and to the people of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, in particular.
The reference to Aurangzeb was significant as the saffron outfits as well as the BJP claimed that the Shrikrishna Janmabhoomi had also been demolished by the former. The saffron party leaders have been making a renewed clamour to remove the Shahi Idgah Masjid adjoining the Shrikrishna Janmabhoomi.
“Ayodhya, Kashi Jari hai, Mathura ki Tayari hai (constructions are on in Ayodhya and Kashi and now prepare for Mathura),” UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had recently said.
Political analysts were of the view that Modi wants to tell his party core vote bank that the BJP is committed to the ideology of Hindutva.
“BJP will certainly take credit for the grand Kashi Vishwanath Dham…it will definitely reassure the Hindus about the party’s commitment,” said veteran political analyst JP Shukla.
He also said that Kashi Vishwanath Temple was one of the most revered places of worship for the Hindus and the BJP’s aim of finishing the project is to bring different sections of the majority community, if not all, to rally behind it in the polls.
Speaking to DH, Shukla also referred to Modi’s lunch with the artisans who had worked in the project and said that it was intended to send across the message that the BJP did not believe in caste-based differences.
This story first appeared on deccanherald.com