Ahead of Assembly elections this year in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana, political parties have started taking the temple route, hoping that it will help them win elections. All the above mentioned states will go to polls between 12 November and 7 December and the results will be declared on 11 December.
Temple politics has taken hold, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where, according to political observers, temples influence almost 30% of the total seats. Due to the influence of temples, political parties have started making “temple politics” their weapon. In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the BJP has been in power for 15 years. In Rajasthan, BJP returned to power in 2013.
According to experts, in MP, out of total 230 Assembly constituencies, 10 influential temples of the state have “direct impact” on 109 seats. The temples that have major impact on the electorate of these 109 seats include Chaturbhuj temple (Orchha), Chintaman Ganesh temple (Ujjain), Devi Jagadambi temple (Khajuraho), Gajanan Maharaj temple (Indore), Mahakal temple (Ujjain), and Vishwakarma Temple and Chitrakoot, among others.
Siddheshwar Shukla, scholar at the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, told The Sunday Guardian: “The temple plays an essential role in our daily life, it also shapes our social behaviour, and almost 10-15 temples of MP have great influence on the electorate residing in the respective areas. It is difficult to say whether the temple can influence elections results or not, but the influence of shrines and temples have been altering the voting patterns in elections across the country.”
“There is no official data which can tell us how temples have impacted election results, but almost 109 seats that have been identified across MP have a great influence of 10 major temples. For example, the Mahakal temple at Ujjain has great influence on individuals and it has been the reason that all politicians pay visit to it,” Shukla said.
BJP president Amit Shah has already visited Mahakal temple twice so far, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is being presented as a Shiv Bhakt (devotee) in the poll-bound states, has already paid visit to the Vishwakarma temple of Bhopal and Kamtanath temple of Chitrakoot and Gaurighat of Murena. The Congress president is likely to visit five more temples in MP next week.
Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits started during the Gujarat Assembly elections and his visit to Kailash-Mansarovar have been the centre of debate.
MP will go to polls on 28 November. This time, there is a strong resentment among voters against the Shivraj Singh government, but by not forming an alliance with Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has given the BJP a reason of cheer.
Similarly, in Rajasthan, voting will take place on 7 December and major shrines have a great influence on 81 seats out of state’s total 200. According to the sources, Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi are likely to go to many temples for campaigning.
On 11 September, Amit Shah, during his one-day visit to Jaipur, offered prayers at the Ganesh temple. Sources said that Rahul Gandhi is also likely to pay visit to several temples in the state.
Temple politics is also gaining ground in Chhattisgarh as Amit Shah has already visited the Bamleshwari temple, Shadani Durbar, and Giroudpuri temple, while Rahul Gandhi has visited the Garodepuri temple.
Chhattisgarh will vote in two phases, the first phase will be held on 12 November in Naxal-affected areas and the second phase will be on 20 November. Here, five major religious places influence 50 seats out of the 90 total Assembly constituencies of the state.
In the coming days, Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Dongargarh Bumleshwari, Kabirdham’s Bhormadev and Kabirpanthi Prakash Muni temple. In Chhattisgarh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power for 15 years. After the announcement of the coalition between Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati and former Congress leader Ajit Jogi, the fight has become interesting.
Manindra Nath Thakur, a poltical observer at JNU, told The Sunday Guardian: “There is nothing new in temple politics, but the Congress taking the temple route denotes an interesting change in electoral politics. Congress, a centrist party, giving similar attention to temples and religion like the BJP, a right wing political party, proves that the role of religion and temples have increased in electoral politics.”
Thakur added: “However, the results will tell which party gains from the temple visits, but the Congress’ turn towards soft Hindutva is being said to be taken under pressure due to the BJP’s massive rise.”