What happens to BJP MP-s private bill on Ayodhya?

Preeti Taneja

Entrepreneur | Posted on 21-Nov-2018

A private member’s bill is a legislative bill that, as the name suggests, is introduced by the private member in the parliament and NOT the government in power. Noteworthy is, such bills, lacking majority’s support, hardly become a law.

So, when BJP MP and RSS Spokesperson Rakesh Sinha said that he will bring a private member’s bill for construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, one must look at the different political dynamics of his intent—because, even he very well knows that his bill will not be passed in the house.

His statement comes in the backdrop of upcoming state elections in Chhattisgarh (underway), Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Odhisa and eventually the big one General Election 2019.

(Courtesy: Jagran)

In 2013, 2014, BJP had promised to its core base that once in power, the party will build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Of course, Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute is too intense and complex for a fanatic government to hold the office and pass on totalitarian measures. And BJP realized this soon after coming to power. The Ram Mandir issue is in Supreme Court; SC will decide in January 2019 when to begin hearing the case.

This has set a paranoia in BJP and RSS. They are already losing interests of radical right-wingers who voted them in for the sole purpose of building Ram Mandir. So, the party in power is desperate to raise the issue, in any way possible, to appease this group. In contrast, in 2014, BJP also amassed huge support from the middle-class families in the name of development. So, picking up Ram Mandir issue bluntly and obsessively may hurt BJP’s farce of being a “pro-development party”, eventually losing them the middle-class votes.

In short, they are juggling two balls in one hand.

For this reason, even after MP Rakesh Sinha proposal that he will bring private member’s bill in the house, BJP leaders have remained hushed on the topic.

BJP-MP-private-bill-of-ayodhya-letsdiskuss

(Courtesy: NDTV)

It’s a masterstroke on Sinha’s part who is primarily recognized as RSS spokesperson over BJP’s MP. Despite knowing that his efforts would go in vain, he’s planning for this bill—to, in a way, show to the right-wingers that the party in power is doing something.

Also, while announcing his plans, Rakesh Sinha, in the same series of tweets, also questioned Rahul Gandhi, SitaramYechury, Mayawati and Chandrababu Naidu whether they will support the bill or not. Again, he knows very well that these leaders will NOT support the bill. But then none of them will come out and say “NO”, fearing vote loss of people who desperately want Ram Mandir built.

It’s fascinating how politics is panning out in India where everything that politicians say and do is diced to win votes.

BJP, currently, strategically, can be seen in two groups: one, that wants to pick Ram Mandir issue to appeal the hard-core Hindu fanatics. And two, a pro-development group that wants to woo the middle and high-class. (And yes, much like every time, the core issues of the lower-class population has been confined in the corners of election manifestos and “wah Modi-Ji wah” “Wah, Rahul-ji wah” speeches. )