Lucknow. A tweet by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Wednesday created waves in the politics of Uttar Pradesh leading to the assembly elections, which turned into a storm within a few hours. Keshav Prasad wrote- ‘Ayodhya Kashi grand temple construction is going on, Mathura is preparing…’ Also hashtagged – ‘Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shiv Shambhu, Jai Shri Radhe-Krishna.’ This is believed to be an indication of the saffron agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party that Mathura may also become an issue in the assembly elections.
‘Ram Lalla we will come, the temple will be built there…!’ This resolve, which has shown big developments to the politics of the country and the state, is on the way to accomplishment with the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, so now again politics seems to be moving on a new path. In Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s tweet, ‘…now preparing for Mathura’, the same meaning is being taken that efforts have started to give edge to the Shri Krishna birthplace issue just before the anniversary of the demolition of Ayodhya (December 6).
In fact, the politics of Uttar Pradesh has also taken a turn after the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya started. For decades, the leaders of non-BJP parties, who kept a sufficient distance from Ayodhya and called themselves ‘secular’, have gradually taken a firm step towards Hindutva. Along with accusing the BJP of politics in the name of Lord Ram, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has been calling Lord Krishna his adoration at times. He went to many religious places including Mathura, Chitrakoot, started political programs from there.
Similarly, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra started visiting temple-temple and BSP also started enlightened conferences from Ayodhya to woo Brahmins. Recently, Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also came to visit Ram Lalla. The word ‘Jinnah’ from Akhilesh’s mouth and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s taunt with the word ‘Abbajan’ has been in discussion.
The BJP strategists have seen this environment through their glasses. In the meeting of the organization, Home Minister Amit Shah has also given a mantra in the past that if the opposition itself has come to play on the pitch of Hindutva, then why not feed it on it. Now this tweet of Keshav Maurya is being considered as a master stroke on the same pitch.
It is noteworthy that just five days before the anniversary of the demolition of the structure, Maurya’s statement assumes significance because he has been an active participant in the temple movement under the leadership of Ashok Sinhal, the international general secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. By the way, he has done this tweet as Deputy Chief Minister.
Yogi Sarkar’s agenda of religious-cultural nationalism includes many shrines, but the situation of having a temple and a mosque in the same complex makes Mathura as sensitive as Ayodhya.
The complex of Shri Krishna Janmasthan located in Mathura is of 13.37 acres. In this, there is also the Shahi Masjid Idgah. The parties to the temple claim that the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb had demolished the temple and built a mosque here. In 1832, the first trial in this case took place in the district collector’s court. However, in 1968, an agreement was reached between the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sangh and the Shahi Masjid Idgah Committee to maintain the status quo. Then all the suits challenging that agreement have been filed in the court.
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