The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are more than two years away, but with several cases filed in several local courts claiming Hindu rights over various mosques or Muslim sites, the political situation in the state is already starting to heat up.
Three such applications have been filed in recent weeks in UP, and one, seeking a survey at Ajmer Sharif Dargahfiled in the court of Ajmer in Rajasthan.
On November 19, a petition was filed in the Chandausi court in UP, claiming that a Hindu has this right Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. The court ordered that a survey of the Islamic site be carried out on the same day, and the authorities to conduct it in the evening as well. Violence erupted during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque on November 24 in which at least four people were killed.
Since then, petitions filed in courts making similar claims about the Shamshi Shahi mosque in Badaun and the Atala mosque in Jaunpur have seen significant progress.
The opposition party has complained loudly about the manner in which these requests have been approved by the lower courts despite the laxity shown by the administration in implementing their orders.
Against this, the Supreme Court has now set up a special bench to hear a number of pending appeals challenging the validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which states that the nature of all places of worship, without the Constitution. one in Ayodhya which was under trial at that time, will be maintained as it was on August 15, 1947.
In particular, petitions seeking Hindu rights over the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Idgah mosque in Mathura were filed in 2021 – a year before the 2022 UP elections in which the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP returned to power for the second consecutive term. out 255 out of 403. seats compared to Samajwadi Party’s 111 seats.
The political development behind the new grievances and the subsequent split may further Adityanth’s brand of Hindutva politics, which is seen by many as more violent than the BJP’s usual line.
The Gorakshnath Math in Gorakhpur, headed by Adityanath, was closely associated with the Ayodhya movement that culminated in the construction of the Ram Temple in January 2024 after the Supreme Court’s 2019 verdict.
In early 2025, UP’s Prayagraj will once again host the Maha Kumbh, considered a major Hindu cultural event. The CM has already reached out to the RSS top brass to make the event inclusive where all sections and sects of the Hindu community can be represented. It was also seen as Adityanath’s attempt to boost his national image as a Hindutva leader.
In August this year, while addressing a public meeting in Agra, Adityanath made a speech saying “buy to buy (we are divided, we are falling)” he commented while talking about the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. The slogan was used by the BJP in its campaign in the recent Maharashtra elections, where the party-led Mahayuti won in a landslide. It was even approved by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale.
“Hindutva plus law and order, governance and welfare is the sum total of Maharaj ji’s (Adityanath) politics. But Hindutva is the foundation on which everything else is built. Also, the Opposition has shown (in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections), at least in UP, that it is as good as the BJP at social engineering. The successfully achieved law and order has been effectively implemented in the 2022 elections, as social politics has entered the competitive phase now. ” said the UP BJP leader, adding that “At a time when the opposition is determined to divide society on caste lines, we must build on Hindutva.”
Denying that the government has nothing to do with these petitions, he also said: “They (the petitioners) are all not associated with the BJP or the Sangh Parivar. All matters are before the courts. But if the other party creates trouble despite court orders, action will have to be taken under the Yogi government. “
These complaints also elicited mixed responses from INDIA’s opposition parties. The SP, the main opposition party in UP, blamed the state government for the deaths in Sambhal, accusing the BJP of “spreading hatred”. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, however, has made no effort to visit Sambhal so far. Only Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Parliament Mata Prasad Pandey made an attempt to visit the city with a delegation of party leaders on November 30, which was blocked by the administration.
Many see this as a move by the SP to tread cautiously on the issue in an attempt to prevent the BJP from splitting the issue.
On the other hand, the Congress not only did he go public about this issue but party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi even tried to visit Sambhal but were stopped by the UP police. Earlier this month, the Congress Working Committee reiterated its commitment to the Places of Worship Act in one of its resolutions issued at the meeting.
The UP Congress sub-unit also launched a nationwide campaign against alleged violations of the Act after Sambhal’s plea. The campaign was launched on the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, which also marks the death anniversary of BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.
Some UP Congress leaders have even suspected that the re-opening of these disputes may extend to the issue of lands allotted to Dalits.
The Congress has been trying to regroup its traditional vote bank of Muslims and Dalits, seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when it accused the ruling BJP of trying to “change the Constitution”.
The support from these sections will also put the grand old party in a better position to negotiate seat-sharing with its counterpart INDIA SP in the 2027 Assembly elections.