THE 1948 U.P. BY-ELECTION THAT CHANGED THE POLITICS OF AYODHYA

The Ram Mandir movement has been considered a big issue in the politics of both Uttar Pradesh and the country. However, in reality, the politicisation of this issue started way back in 1948, a year after India gained independence. Then, for the first time in history, the Ram temple was used in elections, and Congress sought votes in the name of Hindutva to defeat a rebel. From then till date, politics over Ram Temple has been creating a stir from time to time in UP.

After independence, Congress was the first party to promise the construction of the Ram Temple. Along with that, the party also made a promise that the Babri Masjid would be removed and the Ram Temple would be built in its place. The Congress gave the party ticket to Baba Raghav Das, a Hindu leader and social reformer. Baba Raghav Das swore that he would free the Ram Janmabhoomi from heretics. Before the by-election, posters were put up in Ayodhya, in which Acharya Narendra Dev was shown as Ravana and Congress candidate Baba Raghav Das was represented as Ram.

In 1934, the Socialist Party was born within the Congress having people like Ram Manohar Lohia to Acharya Narendra Dev. This section often clashed with the main Congress and by 1948, this tussle increased further and the Socialists separated themselves from the Congress. Not only this, 13 MLAs from the Socialist faction also resigned from the UP Assembly. After this, the by-election was announced and Faizabad had become a hot seat. From here, socialist thinker Acharya Narendra Dev was in the fray, who was among the 13 socialist MLAs who had resigned.

At that time Govind Ballabh Pant was the Chief Minister of UP, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the Home Minister. Acharya Narendra Dev was a resident of Faizabad and had a stronghold in this area. Baba Raghav Das was pitted against Narendra Dev. It may be noted that the birthplace of Raghav Das is Eastern UP and there is a medical college in his name in in Gorakhpur. His ashram is in Barhaj town of Deoria but Baba Raghav Das was not identified as a religious saint but as a Gandhian and social worker. He is also called the Gandhi of Purvanchal and ‘Hanuman’ of Saint Vinoba’s Bhoodan movement.

ASHOK SINGHAL: A LEADER OF RAMJANMABHOOMI MOVEMENT AFTER INDEPENDENCE

Back then there were two types of leadership that were effective in making the Ram Mandir movement successful. On the one hand, there was the leadership of people like Ramchandradas Paramhans and Ashok Singhal who were present on the stage, while on the other hand, there were those who worked silently in the background. They may have been in the background, but their contribution has been unmatched towards the movement. Thakur Gurudutt Singh and Moropant Pingle are foremost among such heroes.

In 1948 the Congress government banned the Sangh and in protest against this move Ashok Singhal started a movement with some volunteers. The police arrested him and sent him to jail. Later after coming out of jail, Singhal joined RSS and remained engaged in religious and national work. He remained in Kanpur for a long time during his missionary life. From 1975 to 1977, an Emergency was imposed and along with it, a ban was imposed on the RSS in the country. During this period, Ashok Singhal kept mobilizing people against the dictatorship of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. After the Emergency, Singhal was made the prant pracharak of Delhi by the RSS.

SINGHAL’S FIRM RESOLUTION

It is said that Ashok Singhal made a firm resolve in 1992, standing on the banks of the Saryu river, to install the statue of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya. Singhal had said in an interview, “We dedicated everything to build Ram temple in Ayodhya. As far as demolishing the mosque is concerned, we did not go with the intention of demolishing it. Whatever happened that day was a part of the reconstruction work of the temple.” After the disputed structure was demolished, many leaders including Ashok Singhal were arrested and a case was registered on the orders of the government against him. Despite these challenges, Singhal remained resolute, asserting that his life was dedicated to Ram, and he steadfastly lived in accordance with the principles associated with Ram till his death in 2015.

PANKAJ SONI The writer is Associate Editor at First India