Rajya Sabha adjourned over reservation in promotions

by Alka Pande Sep 4, 2013

#Ayodhaya #BJP #India #Politics #Praveen Togadia #Ram Mandir #Uttar
Pradesh #VHP #VHP Yatra
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Lucknow: It’s time the BJP reworked its Uttar Pradesh strategy. The
Ayodhya Ram temple controversy is all but dead and its utility as a
vote-catching proposition might be over.

Its latest attempt to gauge the public response to the issue through the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad-sponsored chaurasi kosi parikrama might have made
it aware of the fact. It would also have realized that the VHP is no
more the force in the state it used to be.

Neither the saints nor the common people of Ayodhya town displayed any
interest in the parikrama, a move aimed at reviving public interest in
the Ram temple issue. The response from other parts of the state was
lukewarm too.
VHP yatra

According to the BJP leaders, the sadhus would have conducted their
parikrama peacefully but the state government reacted to it by deploying
force and arresting the saints.

“Their programme did not succeed as the full public support they were
expecting was not there. By now people know that they (the VHP) are
liars. In fact, the organization has lost its credibility and the call
for parikrama was an attempt to regain the lost ground. They failed as
people refused to be fooled by them,” said Gyan Das, the Mahant of
Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya and also the chairman of Bhartiya Akhara
Parishad. He said sadhus are not supposed to even cross a river during
these months. The VHP’s choice of time for the parikrama “shows the
non-seriousness of their intention”.

In a departure from its usual practice, the organization had taken care
to ensure maximum publicity for its programme and ensured that
statements were issued to the media on a daily basis. It even provided
photographs of the event. Despite the effort, the event was a damp
squib. All the arrests were ceremonial and most of those detained by the
police were local workers of the BJP. The absence of angry reaction to
the government’s action was revealing in itself. The absence of the big
champions of Ram Mandir such as Kalyan Singh and Vinay Katiyar further
exposed the weakness of the movement.

“Organisations like the VHP have lost their relevance in today’s times.
Their bases are shrinking. Their tactic is to throw a stone in peaceful
water and see how far the ripples go. This parikrama was one of such
act,” says Farzand Ahmad, a senior political commentator. According to
Ahmad, such programmes become successful when they are people’s movement
but that element is lacking these days. Today’s youth are more
concerned about issues relating to their education and livelihood.

“The fact is that the BJP, while ruling the country under the banner of
National Democratic Alliance (NDA), never talked about the Ram Mandir.
The issue gains importance only before the elections. This time the
party was trying to test the waters through the VHP,’’ he added.

The BJP, however, denies the allegation.

Party spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, “The BJP does not need to
dig so deep to find an issue for the elections. The party is focusing on
corruption in the UPA and development of the country during the NDA
government. We are ruling in three states, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh
and Gujarat, and all three states have been recognised for their
development work. Chhattisgarh is being appreciated for its food scheme,
Madhya Pradesh for women schemes and Gujarat for total development.
Even today people talk about the work done during the rule of Atal
Bihari Vajpayee.”

According to the BJP leaders, the sadhus would have conducted their
parikrama peacefully but the state government reacted to it by deploying
force and arresting the saints. And this happened because the Samajwadi
Party (SP) government wants to create a communal environment in the
state, which suits them.

Nonetheless, realising the failure of the VHP gimmick, BJP has now moved
on and is now working on wooing farmers. The draft of the plan is ready
– Kisan Adhikar March in Lucknow and Delhi in the current month in
which the party would ensure the presence of its national president
Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, as well.

Its latest attempt to gauge the public response to the issue through the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad-sponsored chaurasi kosi parikrama might have made
it aware of the fact. It would also have realized that the VHP is no
more the force in the state it used to be.

Neither the saints nor the common people of Ayodhya town displayed any
interest in the parikrama, a move aimed at reviving public interest in
the Ram temple issue. The response from other parts of the state was
lukewarm too.

by Alka Pande Sep 4, 2013

#Ayodhaya #BJP #India #Politics #Praveen Togadia #Ram Mandir #Uttar
Pradesh #VHP #VHP Yatra
2
0
3
4 CommentsEmailPrint

Lucknow: It’s time the BJP reworked its Uttar Pradesh strategy. The
Ayodhya Ram temple controversy is all but dead and its utility as a
vote-catching proposition might be over.

Its latest attempt to gauge the public response to the issue through the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad-sponsored chaurasi kosi parikrama might have made
it aware of the fact. It would also have realized that the VHP is no
more the force in the state it used to be.

Neither the saints nor the common people of Ayodhya town displayed any
interest in the parikrama, a move aimed at reviving public interest in
the Ram temple issue. The response from other parts of the state was
lukewarm too.
VHP yatra

According to the BJP leaders, the sadhus would have conducted their
parikrama peacefully but the state government reacted to it by deploying
force and arresting the saints.

“Their programme did not succeed as the full public support they were
expecting was not there. By now people know that they (the VHP) are
liars. In fact, the organization has lost its credibility and the call
for parikrama was an attempt to regain the lost ground. They failed as
people refused to be fooled by them,” said Gyan Das, the Mahant of
Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya and also the chairman of Bhartiya Akhara
Parishad. He said sadhus are not supposed to even cross a river during
these months. The VHP’s choice of time for the parikrama “shows the
non-seriousness of their intention”.

In a departure from its usual practice, the organization had taken care
to ensure maximum publicity for its programme and ensured that
statements were issued to the media on a daily basis. It even provided
photographs of the event. Despite the effort, the event was a damp
squib. All the arrests were ceremonial and most of those detained by the
police were local workers of the BJP. The absence of angry reaction to
the government’s action was revealing in itself. The absence of the big
champions of Ram Mandir such as Kalyan Singh and Vinay Katiyar further
exposed the weakness of the movement.

“Organisations like the VHP have lost their relevance in today’s times.
Their bases are shrinking. Their tactic is to throw a stone in peaceful
water and see how far the ripples go. This parikrama was one of such
act,” says Farzand Ahmad, a senior political commentator. According to
Ahmad, such programmes become successful when they are people’s movement
but that element is lacking these days. Today’s youth are more
concerned about issues relating to their education and livelihood.

“The fact is that the BJP, while ruling the country under the banner of
National Democratic Alliance (NDA), never talked about the Ram Mandir.
The issue gains importance only before the elections. This time the
party was trying to test the waters through the VHP,’’ he added.

The BJP, however, denies the allegation.

Party spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, “The BJP does not need to
dig so deep to find an issue for the elections. The party is focusing on
corruption in the UPA and development of the country during the NDA
government. We are ruling in three states, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh
and Gujarat, and all three states have been recognised for their
development work. Chhattisgarh is being appreciated for its food scheme,
Madhya Pradesh for women schemes and Gujarat for total development.
Even today people talk about the work done during the rule of Atal
Bihari Vajpayee.”

According to the BJP leaders, the sadhus would have conducted their
parikrama peacefully but the state government reacted to it by deploying
force and arresting the saints. And this happened because the Samajwadi
Party (SP) government wants to create a communal environment in the
state, which suits them.

Nonetheless, realising the failure of the VHP gimmick, BJP has now moved
on and is now working on wooing farmers. The draft of the plan is ready
– Kisan Adhikar March in Lucknow and Delhi in the current month in
which the party would ensure the presence of its national president
Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, as well.

Its latest attempt to gauge the public response to the issue through the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad-sponsored chaurasi kosi parikrama might have made
it aware of the fact. It would also have realized that the VHP is no
more the force in the state it used to be.

Neither the saints nor the common people of Ayodhya town displayed any
interest in the parikrama, a move aimed at reviving public interest in
the Ram temple issue. The response from other parts of the state was
lukewarm too.