As we have reported earlier, the Modi government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission to release the land acquired around the site of Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya and return 67 acres of land, excluding 0.313 acres of disputed land, to Ram Janambhoomi Nyas.
The move by the Modi government has given Hindus a ray of hope as there had been considerable disenchantment with the continuous delays in the case in the Supreme Court.
Finally GOI files Writ Petition in SC to give undisputed acquired land 60 Acres to start construction of Ram Mandir.
Been saying Govt needs to this in all forums.
Jai Shree Ram
— Ishkaran Singh Bhandari (@Ish_Bhandari) January 29, 2019
My heart is beating so fast I can hear my heartbeat such effect #RamMandir has on me maybe I will see a Ram Mandir before I depart this earth ??
— दलित ब्राह्मण ? ?? (@Kasheer_suneel) January 29, 2019
Modi Govt requests Supreme Court to withdraw it’s decision of status quo so that it can handover 67 acres to Sri Ramjanmabhumi Nyas. BIGG decision on #RamMandir
— Rahul Kaushik (@kaushkrahul) January 29, 2019
The Congress’ reaction to the Narendra Modi government’s latest move would be rather interesting. It is the second ‘six’ that Narendra Modi has hit in the ‘slog overs’ leading to the General Elections later this year after its quota move for the General Class. In the quota matter, the Congress was caught completely unaware and it huffed and puffed and eventually, had no choice but to support the government on the issue.
On the Ram Mandir issue, the party is much more invested and had much more time to prepare its response to any move that the BJP might have made. Its senior leader Kapil Sibal had actually told the Court to defer the trial until 2019, or as many inferred until the Lok Sabha elections were over.
However, the Congress party isn’t really in a position to publicly oppose the NDA government’s latest move. The Prime Minister and other senior leaders have repeatedly blamed the Congress party for the delays in the Court and any public move by the Congress will only further hurt their electoral prospects.
Moreover, Congress has made a lot of effort in recent times to shed its anti-Hindu image. And the Ram Mandir issue has become the litmus test for support to Hindu interests. If the Congress party interferes with the government’s latest move in the Court, then all their past efforts would have gone to waste.
Like the quota move, Congress is again caught in a situation where it has no choice but to either maintain silence on the entire matter or voice their support for it. The BJP has once again twisted the opposition into playing a game it has nothing to gain from but has a lot to lose.
The government’s move in the dispute has also sent the right message to its core voter-base and will galvanize them ahead of the elections. While the government has displayed concrete intent with the move, it remains to be seen how successful it actually proves to be.
