Shimla: Even as Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu led a march to the Ram Temple in Shimla demanding a high-level probe into the alleged theft of donations and ornaments at the Ayodhya Ram Temple, the BJP on Tuesday chose not to directly address the controversy.
Instead, it launched a political offensive against the Congress, branding it "anti-Ram" and announcing a statewide agitation against the state government.
The strategy was unveiled after the BJP Himachal Pradesh Core Group meeting at Deep Kamal, Shimla, attended by senior leaders including Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, former Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, BJP state president Rajeev Bindal and other senior leaders.
Addressing the media, Dr. Rajeev Bindal claimed the recent Panchayati Raj and Urban Local Body election results reflected a clear rejection of the Congress government's "anti-people policies."
He announced that the BJP would launch a statewide mass movement and prepare a comprehensive chargesheet on what it described as the Congress government's failure to fulfil guarantees made to women, youth, farmers, employees and orchardists.
He alleged that corruption, lawlessness and development paralysis had become the hallmarks of the Sukhu government.
Responding to the Chief Minister's remarks on the Ram Temple issue, Bindal asserted that the Congress did not need a certificate from the BJP because "the people have already declared it anti-Ram."
He alleged that the Congress had historically opposed the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, questioned Lord Ram's existence and resisted the construction of the temple, adding that its present attempts to invoke Lord Ram were driven by political compulsion rather than faith.
Jai Ram Thakur echoed the attack, accusing the Congress of trying to derive political mileage from the Ram Temple controversy while ignoring governance failures. He claimed the people had not forgotten the Congress' historical opposition to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and said the government should focus on development instead of creating religious controversies.
Joining the offensive, Anurag Thakur described the Ayodhya Ram Temple as the culmination of a 500-year struggle and the faith of millions of devotees. He said the temple became a reality under Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a constitutional process. He accused the Congress of questioning Lord Ram, the Ram Setu and the Ram Janmabhoomi movement for decades and urged it to stop politicising the temple issue.
Anurag Thakur further challenged the Congress to answer allegations relating to major corruption cases, including the National Herald, 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games, coal allocation and AgustaWestland scandals, instead of targeting the Ram Temple. He maintained that the BJP stood for development, national interest and the preservation of India's cultural heritage.
The BJP's coordinated response marked a clear political strategy to shift the focus away from the alleged Ayodhya temple theft controversy by reviving the Ram Janmabhoomi debate and attacking the Congress' historical record.
On a day when the Congress sought to corner the BJP by demanding accountability over the alleged theft in one of the holiest shrines, the BJP instead turned the spotlight on the Congress, setting the stage for a fresh political confrontation in Himachal Pradesh.
