Hanuman in MP, Shri Ram in Chhattisgarh, Congress with Krishna in Rajasthan

Assembly Elections 2023: The assembly elections of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will not only clear the hazy picture of the Lok Sabha elections to be held next year. Rather, we will also assess those experiments, which will be used by political parties in the general elections by converting them into strategy. There is a strong smell of Hindutva in the election wind blowing from these three states. Not only the Bharatiya Janata Party, but the Congress too has now removed the words soft and hard that differentiate it and BJP's Hindutva. Congress has openly painted in the color of Hindutva and is giving competition to BJP on the pitch of this Hindutva.

In Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath has given himself the title of 'Hanuman bhakt' and has made it shine even more in the election golden sun of Hindutva. Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel has caught the fingers of 'Bhanje Ram' while looking for BJP's Ramlala. Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan has started the process of creating new disputes on the board of Hindutva. The land where Krishna devotee Meera was born, Gehlot is in the shelter of his idol Govind during the election season. Let us find out one by one the reasons for the tough stance of these Congress leaders on Hindutva and the changing strategy of the Congress.

Hanuman devotee Kamal Nath

Desperate to return to power in Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath may not be the official contender for the post of Chief Minister of the Congress party, but he has made it clear in the state that this time the Congress will take on the BJP only on the pitch of Hindutva. In the last elections, the Congress, which had a light color of Hindutva, came to power, but could not last long. When the elections came again, the Congress made up its mind that this time the electoral battle would be crossed only by holding the flag of religion.

Putting this campaign into practice, Kamal Nath organized a three-day grand Ram Katha near the huge statue of Lord Hanuman in his stronghold Chhindwara. The reciter of this Ram Katha was Pandit Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham, who is becoming the poster boy of Hindutva and who till now was being used by BJP only. When Kamal Nath was asked about this agenda of Dhirendra Shastri, who prided himself on the Hindu nation, his answer was straight and clear.

He said that there are 82 percent Hindus in this country, then which country would it be called. His indication was clear that this country with 82 percent Hindu population is a Hindu nation after all. Earlier, he has got Priyanka Gandhi to attack BJP with the help of Narmada's Aarti and Mahakal for the election debut in the state. Be it temple visits or Kanwar Yatra, Kamal Nath's Congress is not leaving a single chance to woo Hindu voters.

Baghel's nephew Lord Ram

Chhattisgarh is in the neighborhood of Madhya Pradesh. At the end of this year, the political parties there are also going to get involved in electoral wrestling. At present Congress is in power and Chief Minister is Bhupesh Baghel. It is Baghel who has suggested a strategy to the Congress to make Ram win over Ram. To give a fight to BJP's Ramlala, Baghel declared Lord Ram as his nephew. The foundation of the relationship is Mata Kaushalya, who was from Chhattisgarh itself. BJP is building a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya to give an edge to its Hindutva, while Baghel is preparing Ram Van Gaman Path in response.

Be it Kaushalya Utsav or Ramayana Utsav, Ram Van Gaman Path or renovation of temples associated with Ram, Baghel's government is not holding back from spending crores to connect itself with Lord Ram. 7 huge statues of Lord Ram are being installed across the state. The height of one of these is up to 51 feet. Ram was made the Bhancha (nephew) of Chhattisgarh, so the government is also building a grand temple of Mata Kaushalya.

When the issue of hurting the sentiments of Hindus in the film Adipurush came up, the demand to ban the film also arose from Chhattisgarh. That too from Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel himself. In the current political equation, any such demand is expected from the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and not from the leaders of the Congress Party, but in the changing political situation, now Baghel is also humming the tune of his own Ram and the BJP's strategy in the upcoming elections. Trying to use them only.

Prabhu Girdhar of Gehlot

In this Hindutva of Congress, Ram Baghel's, then Hanuman Kamal Nath's share came. Krishna came to the hands of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Meera Bai of Bhakti period was born on this land of Rajasthan and her devotion to Krishna spread all over the world. Lord Govind is also the deity of Ashok Gehlot who is in power in Rajasthan. In such a situation, he is doing every work, which is related to religion or say Hinduism. Before forming the Shri Krishna Board, Gehlot expressed his desire for devotion to Govind in front of the public.

Gehlot said that he wants a grand temple of Govind Dev ji to be built in Jaipur like Vishwanath of Kashi and Mahakal Lok of Ujjain. He has also taken administrative steps forward to make this dream a reality. Apart from this, Gehlot is setting up Sanskriti Mahavidyalaya and Ved Vidyalaya to awaken and promote Hindu culture.

The government has increased the remuneration of priests from Rs 3 to Rs 5 thousand per month. The Gehlot government is getting 593 temples renovated under the Devasthan department. Lessons of Hanuman Chalisa in temples, Akhand Ramayana in different temples on Ram Navami and Sahastradhara program were organized in the month of Shravan. Devdarshan Yatra is being organized for the elderly in Rajasthan, as well as Luv Kush gardens are being built in every district in the name of Lord Ram's sons.

Why changed color on Hindutva

It is clearly visible from these steps that now the leaders of the Congress party have gone much further than visiting temples. Congress party is now vocal on the issue of Hindutva. The confidence gained from Karnataka is behind this changed strategy, as well as the lessons learned from 2014.

After the defeat in 2014, when the Congress party examined itself, it was understood that there is a major reason behind the shrinking mass base of the Congress in the country and the rise of the BJP. That was the reason for the new image of the Muslim party of Congress. Even though he was getting the votes of the Muslim community with this image, but this vote was not enough to bring the Congress back into the government. The results of 2019 further cleared the seal on this assessment.

Since then, the Congress party decided to change its stand on Hindutva. The party took a tough stand in the Karnataka assembly elections erasing the distinction between soft and hard Hindutva. Congress party got success in Karnataka. At the same time, it also got the confidence that it can defeat BJP even on the issue of Hindutva.