Ramaisation Of Indian Politics

Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram's idol in Ayodhya has transformed the political landscape.Following Hindu tradition is the new buzz in governance but its foundation was laid in 1986

- Sanjay Nirupam

WHETHER good, bad or ugly, the fact is that ‘Ramaisation’ of Indian politics seems to be at its peak. Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Lord Ram’s idol in Ayodhya has completely transformed BJP into a Ram bhakta party. Once considered to be a rational leader, Magsaysay Award winner Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, has officially announced plans to organise the recitation of Sunderkand (A chapter in the Ramayana) at various places in the capital city. Veteran Socialist leader late Biju Patnaik’s son and Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik is considered to be a secular leader as far as his political ideology is concerned. He has announced that his government will construct an ambitious Jagannath Puri temple corridor on January 17 and to begin auspiciously, he suggested that citizens of his state light earthen lamps in their homes and blow conch shells. Constitutionally, governments in India are not supposed to follow a particular religious tradition because we are a secular state. But that doesn’t seem to apply anymore.