Lucknow, Sept. 9: Rahul Gandhi today offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya but sidestepped a potential minefield by ignoring the request of some seers to visit the disputed Ram temple nearby, sticking to a schedule scripted by his grandmother Indira Gandhi 38 years ago.
Dethroned by the Janata Party in 1977 after the anti-Emergency surge, Indira Gandhi was in Opposition when she had stayed in the Circuit House of Faizabad in 1978 and left for Azamgarh after offering early morning prayers at the Hanuman Garhi temple. It has been claimed that she had declined a priest's request to visit the disputed site.
Indira Gandhi headed to Azamgarh to address a rally for a by-election that was being contested by her party candidate, Mohsina Kidwai. Kidwai's victory in that election was seen as a precursor to Indira Gandhi's comeback in the 1980 general election.
Rahul, also in the Opposition now after the Congress suffered its worst-ever debacle, stayed in the same Circuit House, visited Hanuman Garhi and pressed ahead with his Kisan Yatra that is scheduled to culminate in Delhi next month after covering 2,500km. Rahul also visited the Kichchaucha Dargah, the mazar of a revered saint in adjoining Ambedkar Nagar.
No member of the Nehru-Gandhi family has visited any temple in Ayodhya in all these 38 years. Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister and Rahul's father, had visited Ayodhya during his Sadbhavana Yatra in 1990 but stayed away from the temples of the town.
Rahul had visited Faizabad in 2007 and 2009 to meet party workers and in 2012 to address two public meetings in the district. But he had skipped Ayodhya on all these occasions.
Hanuman Garhi, one of the most popular Hanuman temples in northern India, is not part of the disputed site in Ayodhya. Around 800 metres away is the controversial plot where the Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished by Sangh Parivar-backed kar sevaks in 1992.
Amid heavy security, prayers are now offered to a small Ram temple in a tent at the disputed site. The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case is pending in the Supreme Court.
Gyan Das, the mahant of Hanuman Garhi, said devotees usually followed the general practice of taking permission from Lord Hanuman before visiting the Ram temple. But he supported Rahul's decision to stay away from the controversial Ram temple.
"Although some priests wanted Rahul to visit the Ram temple, I am happy he didn't pay any attention to their request. There is no need to create controversy in the name of religion," said Gyan Das, who supports a Ram temple and a Babri Masjid side by side at the disputed site.
The Hanuman temple has a six-inch idol, considered one of the smallest forms of the deity in the country. It is said that the Nawab of Awadh had constructed the temple.
But Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram temple, said: "Other parties have only played politics to gain the support of the majority community. We would have been happy had Rahul visited the Ram temple."
Rahul's decision came at a time suggestions have been made that he was seeking to toe a "soft Hindutva line" by visiting temples. But the Congress had rubbished such theories by pointing out that Rahul had been visiting temples for years and faith is something personal that should not be mixed with politics.
Rahul drove that point home today by visiting the Hanuman temple and staying away from the disputed site.
Ram Das, the priest of Nirmohi Akhara that is a party in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, said: "The lock of the Ram temple was opened by a court order and we had started puja there during the rule of Rahul's father Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister. Rahul should have spoken for enactment of a law for construction of the temple and also visited the Ram temple on our request."
But Haji Mehboob, a plaintiff in the case for Babri Masjid, said: "Unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul is a genuine politician. Indira had visited Ayodhya during the Janata Party's rule and offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi. The then priest of Hanuman Garhi had requested her to visit the disputed area. But she had refused. Rahul is rightly following in his ancestor's footsteps."