A promise deferred

In some respects, it may be a blessing in disguise for the present government that it does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. In Ayodhya on Sunday for a VHP function, Union home minister Rajnath Singh referred to this deficiency to plead that it was “not possible to bring a motion in Parliament to make a law for the construction of a Ram Temple” (where the demolished Babri Masjid stood).

Whether sufficient numbers in the Upper House, in addition to a comfortable Lok Sabha majority, would have prompted the Modi government to undertake the building of a Ram temple, is a moot point. Probably the situation would have turned on the prevailing public mood in the country, which currently is unlikely to favour such a rash step.

Mr Singh can thus afford to speak of numbers in the Rajya Sabha as a means to explain a tricky situation to the faithful. He would, of course, do well to remember that his government also made a commitment to Parliament that it had no plan to scrap Article 370 which confers special status on Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 and the Ram Temple have been high on the BJP’s agenda. Such issues served as a tool to mobilise Hindu opinion for electoral gains. When the coalition government led by Vajpayee held power, the BJP pleaded that it was waiting for a full majority of its own in the Lok Sabha, a situation that has come to pass.