New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ayodhya on Saturday, ahead of the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple on January 22, 2024, was accompanied by an all-round PR blitzkrieg. The larger-than-life media overdrive projected Modi not only as the chief overseer of the controversial temple, but also as a development icon while he threw open a newly-built airport and a railway station and an unfailing welfarist backward class leader through his visit to a Dalit household which was the 10th crore beneficiary/laabarthi of the Union government’s Ujjwala Yojana, a subsidised LPG cylinder delivery scheme.That makes it all three pillars of the BJP’s politics – Hindutva, development and welfare – all of which are centred around one personality cult, Modi. The prime minister’s Ayodhya visit, by all means, was the BJP’s declaration of its 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, and came on the heels of its primary rival Congress’s similar but much more understated effort in its grand celebration of its founding day on December 28, 2023 in Nagpur where the party laid down its campaign pitch around the rising problems of unemployment, income inequality, price rise and communal polarisation.Nevertheless, Modi’s Ayodhya visit was planned to the hilt. He inaugurated a modern airport and railway station, flagged off six Vande Bharat and two Amrit Bharat trains, and laid the foundation stone for 46 new infrastructure development projects. He then went on to hold a roadshow where he interacted with people, all curiously raising ‘Har Har Modi’ slogans almost in unison. The other firebrand Hindutva leader in his own right – UP chief minister Adityanath – played second fiddle, and stopped at nothing to credit Modi for each and every progress in his own state and especially Ayodhya.Ram became the leitmotif to foreground Modi as a modern-day deity, as Meera Manjhi whose house the prime minister visited to congratulate her on being a recipient of the Ujjwala Yojana herself declared. In fact, each of Manjhi’s answers strengthened the BJP’s claims about how all government schemes were reaching the laabarthis without any leakage. Modi spoke about how he related to Manjhi’s condition as he was a chaiwala once.अयोध्या में उज्ज्वला योजना की 10 करोड़वीं लाभार्थी बहन मीरा जी के घर पर उनके परिवार वालों से ‘चाय पे चर्चा’ हुई। इस दौरान यह जानकर मन को बहुत संतोष हुआ कि कैसे सरकारी योजनाओं से पूरे परिवार का जीवन आसान हुआ है। pic.twitter.com/NCTb4yXcaB— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 30, 2023Also read: As Modi Decrees a New Diwali, Remember There’s More to Indian Politics Than BJP’s RamIn his rally, Modi said that “vikas” (development) and “virasat”(heritage) will take India forward in the 21st century, laying the foundation for the campaign talk which promises to make India the third largest economy in the world by 2026 and a developed nation by 2047. At the same time, he appealed to all “Ram Bhakts” to celebrate Diwali on January 22, 2024, the day when the Ram Janmabhoomi temple will be inaugurated by him. He asked everyone to light a lamp in their houses, and urged all not to crowd Ayodhya on the day of inauguration. “You have waited for more than 500 years. Do wait for some more days and then come to Ayodhya after considering all the security aspects,” the prime minister said.“Light a Ram jyoti in your respective houses when the Lord reaches his new home; celebrate Diwali,” he said, even as he and all the other BJP leaders missed no opportunity to convey that Lord Ram will be returning to his home after a gap of 500 years – a political instrument to remind people that the supposedly original Ram Janmabhoomi temple was destroyed by the “Mughal invaders” to build the Babri Masjid at its place.He then went on to add, while talking about India’s long strides in digital technology even when it comes to preserving pilgrimage sites, “This was the same Ayodhya where Ram Lalla lived in a tent for years. But now not only has Ram got a permanent temple, but also four crore people have received their own permanent house (under PM Awas Yojana).”Social media was also flooded with videos of how people were celebrating the new Ram temple and modern infrastructure in Ayodhya alike. The passengers of the first Indigo flight to Ayodhya were seen chanting Ram Bhajans in the cabin, even as the Captain addressed them as being the fortunate one to pilot the first flight to Ayodhya, ending his speech with “Jai Siya Ram”. Supporters of Hindutva organised themselves to lash out at “Left, liberals, English-speaking seculars” for “deracinating” Indians through their deliberate erasure of Hindu history.“Today we are witnessing the grandeur of development, and after a few days we will see the splendour of heritage. Yahi toh Bharat hai (This is all India is all about),” Modi declared, fusing his messages of vikas and virasat.
