RaGa's Temple Run: What's wrong in maligning the Congress President for being a 'soft Hindutva'

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has hit his temple trail again during his ongoing 4-day campaign in election-bound Karnataka, giving way to a lot of criticisms by the opposition party BJP. Rahul's visit to temples prior to Uttar Pradesh assembly elections last year went a notch higher during the Gujarat elections. He visited as many as 25 temples which compelled BJP to accuse the leader of exercising 'Soft Hindutva'. 

 

 

 

Offering prayers and engaging in religious activities is neither soft Hindutva or hard Hindutva. It is basically what a Hindu does on an everyday basis irrespective of this loosely and politically made boundaries. Terming and associating the act of visiting temples as Hindutva misinterprets with the real ideology that goes with it. It is as religious as it is cultural, it can be public or private but it does not have to be politically-driven every time. Even if it is, there is nothing wrong with it. Being a leader, approaching mass politics that requires establishing a connection with the audience is the conventional way of appeasing the common man. In fact, he should go beyond visiting temples and try socialising more with Hindus by celebrating their festivals so that people find it easy to trust him with his votes.

 

Those who perceive this as a gimmick can calm down for a while as not all use of religion is bad and nobody is qualified enough to lay down the rules of Hindutva or any other religion for the others to follow.