MP Assembly Election 2023: BJP's dilemma in ignoring Priyanka Gandhi-Kamal Nath's Hindu outreach programme

In Jabalpur on 12 June, 2023, the Congress gave a glimpse of its “religious outreach programme” that was discussed, debated and finalised at the Udaipur Chitan Shivir in May 2022. In a nutshell, at Udaipur, Congress leaders from several northern and central Indian states were given the freedom to flaunt their proximity to Hinduism, its symbols, festivals, religious practices in order to counter the BJP narrative of describing the congress as ‘anti-Hindu.’ On Sunday, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi along with party leader Kamal Nath performed Narmada Pooja at Gwarighat in Jabalpur before addressing a mammoth rally. The state Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh are due in November-December this year. Priyanka’s presence and usage of overtly religious symbols prompted the rival BJP to dub Priyanka as ‘Chunavi Hindu’. But the BJP would need to do much more than smart slogans and social media onslaught. The Congress is well entrenched in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, both politically and organisationally. In 2018, it had finished five seats ahead of the BJP in a photo-finish election and formed the government for 15 months. The Kamal Nath government fell in March 2020 due to dramatic defection led by Jyotiraditya Scindia and his loyal set of MLAs. Nath, a veteran warhorse, remained steadfast, marshalling resources and sticking to the ground in Madhya Pradesh to emerge as a challenger to incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Nath has been bold and declared Hanuman bhakt. He had played an active role to get a 101 feet long statue of Hanuman in his Chhindwara constituency that elected him 10 times as a Member of Parliament and Assembly. “It is the tallest Hanuman statue in the country,” Nath said adding, “Chhindwara Hanuman statue is taller than the one at Chattarpur in Delhi by 8 inches. I got this temple ready a few years ago out of my devotion for Lord Hanuman.” At a broader level, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh has remained religiously conservative. Just before the 2018 state Assembly polls, former state chief minister Digvijaya Singh conducted a gruelling padyatra around Narmada, considered to be a holy river walking for 192 days covering a distance of 3,325 kilometres. The long Narmada Parikrama had a huge network of party workers, religious leaders, bureaucrats and other influential members of society. His yatra passed through 166 out 230 Assembly constituencies of Madhya Pradesh. Privately, some Digvijaya supporters say that by undertaking a long “spiritual” journey, he sought to “atone” for his past “sins” in terms of faith and played a role in Congress’ electoral success during December 2018 state Assembly polls. Interestingly, when his Narmada Parikrama Yatra concluded at Narsinghpur on the bank of the river, some enthusiastic voices hailed him as “sant Digvijaya”.  Contrary to his national image, in his hometown, Raghaogarh, which falls under the erstwhile Gwalior empire, Digvijaya has a title, “Hindupati” or the defender of the faith, a description that dates back to legendary warrior Prithviraj Chauhan, from whom the family claims descent. Many in the Raghaogarh Assembly constituency, still revere Digvijaya’s ancestor Maharaj Dhir Singh as the town deity, believing a visit to his shrine would cure snakebite and ward off evil spirits. More discerning readers can read between the lines from a censure motion moved by a Congress MLA, Jitu Patwari against AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi in March 2016. Owaisi had then remarked that he won’t chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. In the legislative lexicon, a censure motion is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism against the policies of the government or an individual. It, however, has no legal bearing. In his brief intervention, Patwari, a close associate of Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh recalled how Jawaharlal Nehru had constantly referred to the country as “mother India”. He then attacked Owaisi’s remarks made at Latur where the MP from Hyderabad reportedly refused to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Patwari’s political fortunes have been on the rise since 2016. It is also pertinent to point out that the Congress Working Committee in its meeting on 16 January 1999, adopted a resolution articulating the Congress’ definition of secularism. It says, “The CWC endorses the views of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in her speech on the anniversary of Swami Vivekananda,[ on the occasion of Vivekananda’s anniversary in 1999] where she had said, “India is secular primarily because of Hindus, both as a philosophy and as a way of life based on what our ancients said, Ekam satyam, vipraha bahudha vadanti (The truth is one, the wise pursue it variously).” According to a Congress Twitter post, six surveys have been published so far predicting a Congress victory in Madhya Pradesh. This may be a tad wishful, but the BJP cannot afford to take the Priyanka-Nath-led religious outreach programme lightly. The writer is a visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including ‘24 Akbar Road’ and ‘Sonia: A Biography’. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. 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