Just a couple of weeks before the Election Commission of India is expected to announce the crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s statement that Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi is next on the agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party, stirred up a political furore.
In a tweet, Maurya posted in Hindi, "Ayodhya Kashi bhavya mandir nirman jari hai, Mathura ki taiyari hai (grand temples are being constructed in Ayodhya and Kashi, preparations are on for Mathura)."
Later Maurya hashtagged it #Long live Rama, #Jai_Shiv_Shambhu and #Jai_Shri_ Radhe_Krishna.
But when contacted, Maurya refused to speak on the issue.
The construction of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor is underway in Varanasi and it is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the first week of December while the construction of Ram temple is going on at a frantic pace in Ayodhya and is likely to open for pilgrims by December 2023.
Reacting to Maurya’s statement, Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said, “The statement is a clear indication of the mindset of BJP leaders. The party always tried to communalise the elections. Ram mandir is always on the election agenda of the party. Once the construction of Ram temple has started at the behest of the Supreme Court, the party feels it is orphaned and therefore has come up with Mathura.”
“In the last assembly elections, the BJP had raised the issue of ‘shamshaan and kabristan’. Through this politically loaded tweet, Maurya, who is also deputy chief minister in the government, is setting the communal agenda of the election,” he further said.
Opposition leaders believe that Mathura and Kashi would now find prominent places in the election manifesto of the BJP.
Kashi, Mathura and Ayodhya have always been on the agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Before the Supreme Court’s verdict in 2019, the BJP’s war cry used to be ‘Ram Lalla hum aayenga, mandir yehi banayenge’. Once the construction of Ram temple began, the slogans changed to ‘Ayodhya to jhanki hai, Mathura, Kashi baaki hai’. Lawsuits have already been filed by Hindu organisations seeking ownership of the land where mosques adjoining Krishna Janmabhomi in Mathura and Gyanvapi Mosque near Kashi Vishwanath temple stand.