Much significance is being attached to the statement of Samajwadi Party founder and now patron Mulayam Singh Yadav that Lord Ram was worshipped in North India only but Lord Krishna had a pan India appeal. Lord Krishna was worshipped all over India, he added. It is worth mentioning here that Mulayam Singh belongs to the Yadav community, which worships Lord Krishna. Samajwadi Party wants to consolidate its hold over backward classes by invoking Lord Krishna.

Akhilesh Yadav, former chief minister and national president of Samajwadi Party, also announced construction of 50 ft long statue of Lord Krishna at his village Sefai. The statue would be constructed by the Sefai Mela committee. Samajwadi Party now wants to counter BJP’s Ayodhya propaganda by talking about Lord Krishna.

The Yogi government recently announced its decision to construct a 100-ft statue of Lord Ram on the banks of river Saryu at Ayodhya. The project, worth Rs 300 crore, includes broadening of roads and creation of better infrastructure in the city.

The self-styled negotiator in the Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, met chief minister Yogi Adityanath and visited Ayodhya and Lucknow, where he met Hindu and Muslim religious heads to find a solution on the Ram temple issue. All these exercises are being termed as major efforts to keep the Ayodhya issue alive for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In the past too, Samajwadi Party had no problem in playing the soft Hindutva card to win over the majority community whenever it suited the interest of the party. In 1990 Mulayam Singh Yadav as chief minister had ordered firing on the kar sewaks in Ayodhya to protect the Babri mosque, which led to Mulayam Singh Yadav being painted as the main villain and anti-Hindu leader by his opponents. He was even named as Maulana Mulayam Singh.

But Mulayam Singh Yadav indicated a change of heart when he joined hands with Kalyan Singh, who as BJP CM presided over the demolition of Babri mosque in 1992. Mulayam also gave the Rajya Sabha ticket to religious guru Sakshi Maharaj, who was claimed to have been involved in the demolition of Babri Masjid. So much so Kalyan Singh's son Rajbir and Kusum Rai were made ministers.

When Samajwadi Party lost the elections due to the erosion in Muslim Support due to the handshake with Kalyan Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav realised his mistake and dumped the former BJP chief minister and his party RKP.

During the 2012 polls, Mulayam tendered apologies for ordering the firing on kar sewaks and organised a series of pujas and havans in Ayodhya.

Political observers are somewhat surprised by the latest move of Samajwadi Party to invoke Lord Krishna to take on BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as the party had always sought to keep a distance from hardcore Hindutva posturing. (IPA Service)