Opinion: Will 'Shiv-bhakti' save the Congress?

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, a self-professed "Shiv-bhakt", is on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, the mythical meditation-abode of Shiva and his consort, Parvati. A pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar is considered to be the most sacred according to many Hindus, but only a few are able to go on it, as it is both arduous and expensive.

Located at a height of more than 6,000 metres, the mountain and the lakes that are spread around it are revered by Buddhists and Jains as well. This is hardly surprising as the origin, history and development of these three religions is intimately intertwined.

With elections in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram just months away the Congress scion’s trek to the holy site is being seen as yet another ‘temple-run’ by his opponents in the BJP.

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The BJP’s charge is simple and a repeat of their attack on the Congress during the Gujarat and Karnataka assembly elections where Rahul had visited a string of important monasteries and temples ahead of elections in the two states. BJP charges Rahul with opportunism, saying that Gandhi goes to temples only for votes and not because he is actually a devout Hindu. Rahul’s critics among left-liberals decry his visits such as the latest as appeasement of BJP’s politics of Hindutva, labelling it ‘soft Hindutva’.

More recently, Congress’s spokesperson Randeep Surjewala proclaimed that his party’s DNA consists of ‘Brahmins’. He was speaking at a rally organised to reach out to the influential Brahmin community in Haryana’s Kurukshetra. It seems the grand old party has decided to adopt the BJP’s strategy of espousing religion to woo the Indian voter in the upcoming state elections and the general elections in 2019.

It is also clear now that the top leadership in the Congress has finally decided to counter the BJP’s successful campaign to label it as a party mainly for Muslims and minorities. In this the BJP has effectively made use of past statements and comments made by a slew of Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh, Salman Khurshid, and Sushil Kumar Shinde. For the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage too, Rahul has been pilloried by BJP leaders who call it nothing but a ‘gimmick’ and its spokesperson Sambit Patra even suggests a ‘secret love for China’ being behind the visit.

Congress’s playing of the Hindu card is as critics say, a specious and cynical move, but at the same time it gives credence to the view that party is now out of the morass that engulfed it in the wake of 2014. It is adopting different strategies to woo different communities while retaining its image as a secular party that fought for and won independence from the British. As far as Rahul’s latest pilgrimage is concerned he had announced it after his aircraft had to make an emergency landing after a sudden mid-air snag while campaigning during Karnataka elections.

Whether or not Rahul’s apparently new-found religious devotion is politically motivated, one thing is clear, his so-called temple-runs are giving the BJP sleepless nights. However, it remains to be seen if Rahul’s "Shiv-bhakti" will get him the political boons he hopes for in order to save the Congress, which is facing an existential crisis.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)