In the midst of the nationwide controversy surrounding Tamil Nadu sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks about Sanatan Dharma, RJD chief Lalu Prasad has embarked on a series of temple visits, raising speculations about his attempt to appeal to Hindu voters with a form of “soft Hindutva” in the lead-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Both Stalin’s DMK and Lalu’s RJD are part of the newly-formed opposition INDIA block.
On a recent Sunday, Lalu, accompanied by his wife and former CM Rabri Devi, set off for Deoghar town in neighboring Jharkhand to offer prayers to Lord Shiva. He is scheduled to visit the temple on Monday to continue his prayers. Lalu has publicly shared an incident where Lord Shiva appeared in his dream during a period of judicial custody and advised him to abstain from non-vegetarian food. However, he later dismissed this advice and continued to enjoy fish and mutton.
During Krishna Janmashtami, Lalu visited ISKCON, Banke Bihari, and other temples in the state capital, even engaging with the statue of Nandi, the bull, which is considered the carrier of Lord Shiva.
Previously, Lalu visited the Thawe temple in Gopalganj dedicated to Goddess Durga, the Baba Hariharnath temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva in Sonepur, Saran, and the Sidhi Vinayak temple in Mumbai during his recent trip to attend the third meeting of opposition parties.
Chitranjan Gagan, the state RJD spokesperson, explained that Lalu had refrained from visiting temples for an extended period due to health issues and previous periods of incarceration. He clarified that Lalu’s recent visits were a gesture of gratitude to the deities and also a fulfillment of promises made by his supporters who vowed to offer prayers in the event of Lalu’s successful kidney transplant surgery. Gagan emphasized that the RJD had never criticized any religion but had consistently criticized attempts to “politicize religion.”
In response, BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma suggested that Lalu’s actions were an attempt to keep Hindu voters satisfied but argued that it would not benefit the INDIA block. He characterized Lalu’s approach as “deceitful Hindutva” rather than “soft Hindutva” and criticized the apparent contradiction between his temple visits and the divisive statements made by some of his party leaders. Sharma indicated that the people were well aware of Lalu’s intentions.
The controversy surrounding Udhayanidhi and the internal comments made by some of Lalu’s party members have raised concerns that his temple visits may be an attempt to limit the damage to the INDIA block’s electoral prospects.
