Mumbai and Ayodhya are 1500 kilometres apart, but politics binds them together. Ayodhya, a holy city in Uttar Pradesh, has a notable impact on politics in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra. Ayodhya has become a symbol of aggressive Hindutva ideology, and parties in Maharashtra refer to it while asserting themselves to be Hindutvawadi. It was after the Palanpur convention of 1989 that the BJP decided to aggressively pursue the ideology of Hindutva by launching a campaign for the construction of the Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. While the party’s aim has been accomplished and the temple is likely to be inaugurated later next year, Ayodhya remains an element of the political discourse in Maharashtra.
Recently, during an informal chat with journalists at a Diwali get-together, Maharashtra’s CM Eknath Shinde said that he is planning to visit Ayodhya in November. His Ayodhya visit is significant considering the fight between two factions of the Shiv Sena claiming to be the staunch proponent of the ideology. In June this year, when Eknath Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray, he alleged Uddhav has compromised Hindutva by joining hands with secular parties like the Congress and the NCP. In 2019, when Uddhav Thackeray broke the alliance to form the government with the Congress and the NCP, he signed the preamble of the tri-party alliance which mentioned the word “secular” twice. Since the 1980s, the politics of the Shiv Sena had revolved around militant Hindutva ideology and such an act by Uddhav shocked everybody.
In May, a month earlier before the rebellion in the Shiv Sena, there was a war of words between Uddhav Thackeray and former CM Devendra Fadnavis over Ayodhya. In a rally at Mumbai’s Somaiya ground, Fadnavis claimed he was at Ayodhya when the Babri mosque was being demolished. This was countered by Uddhav Thackeray, who said that Fadnavis might be a child when the mosque was being demolished. Uddhav quoted his late father, Bal Thackeray and claimed that they were Shiv Sainiks who took part in the demolition.
Before the 2019 elections, Uddhav visited Ayodhya with his family to assert that the Shiv Sena was a true adherent of Ayodhya. The party arranged a grand event which included a meeting of saints and Aarti of the Saryu river in the evening. After becoming the CM, Uddhav visited Ayodhya twice. Interestingly, Aditya Thackeray also visited Ayodhya earlier this year with Eknath Shinde, who rebelled a few days later.
In April, MNS chief Raj Thackeray also gave a “Chalo Ayodhya” call to establish himself as a Hindutvawadi leader. While pursuing his Marathi agenda, Raj proclaimed he had no other religion other than “Maharashtra Dharma” but in early 2020, he adopted Hindutva as the agenda for his party. While changing his multicoloured flag to saffron, he said “This was the flag in his mind while establishing the MNS” and “Hindutva was in his DNA”.
To further his image as an aggressive Hindu leader, he gave an ultimatum to the government that loudspeakers used for azans must be removed from mosques by 4 May 2022, otherwise his men would play Hanuman Chalisa in front of them. But he had to cancel his Ayodhya visit because of the objection raised by a BJP Member of Parliament, Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. Singh warned he would not allow Raj to visit Ayodhya till he apologized to the north Indians for inciting violence against them.
The BMC elections are likely to be held in a few months, and three players are vying for votes on Hindutva. In such a scenario to galvanize voters, the saffron leaders believe the Ayodhya visit would help.
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