New Delhi: With “Hindutva’ emerging as the main poll plank of the BJP, the Sangh Parivar is rooting for a hardliner to be the party’s face for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and week-long celebrations are being planned at Ayodhya from June 10 to revive the Ram mandir issue.
Union minister Mahesh Sharma and party MP Yogi Adityanath are reportedly being favoured by the Sangh Parivar over Union human resources development minister Smriti Irani and BJP Lok Sabha member Varun Gandhi. BJP hardliners and the RSS are trying to push Mr Sharma to the top of the list. To send a signal, Mr Sharma will be attending the Ram Janmabhoomi event at Ayodhya. The week-long celebration will be held to mark the birth anniversary of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust chief Nritya Gopal Das.
Sandwiched between the caste-based politics of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the BJP intends to employ the politics of polarisation to try to consolidate the Hindu vote bank in its favour.
