The Bharatiya Janata Party likes to project itself as a shrill custodian of sanatana dharma. Hence, the rebuff from the four shankaracharyas, who have decided not to attend the inauguration of the Ram temple citing violations of the rules of sanatana dharma, must have come as an acute embarrassment to the party. It is, therefore, unsurprising that the BJP is eager to deflect public attention towards another act of spurning the invitation to the pran pratishtha ceremony — that of the Congress. Two senior BJP ministers have led the charge, denouncing the decision by the Congress as evidence of its anti-Hindu leanings. Yet, the Congress’s reasoning for not attending the grand ceremony is not unprincipled. Religion’s status as an article of personal faith — a constitutional position — the BJP’s inclination to reap political dividends out of the ceremony — an undeniable truth — and the hasty inauguration of the shrine — this is the violation that the shankaracharyas mentioned — are, the Congress says, the factors that prevented its leadership from honouring the invitation.

However, there is often a chasm between principles and prudent politics. The Congress’s refusal to grace the occasion in Ayodhya on January 22 is going to render it vulnerable to the BJP’s accusation of the party being indifferent to the sentiments of the majority community. This could be a formidable hurdle in an election year given the electorate's enchantment with the politics of polarisation, a trend that has sharpened with the political ascendancy of the BJP under Narendra Modi. Further, INDIA, the Opposition bloc, is speaking in many voices on the Ram temple inauguration: the Congress’s refusal to be present may lead to strain in the alliance considering, say, Nitish Kumar’s position on the matter. But it would be naïve to suggest that the Congress is unaware of the political risks of the decision. In fact, there may even be some wisdom to it. The Congress’s flirtations with soft Hindutva have usually led to electoral debacles: the rout in Madhya Pradesh was the latest example of this. Exposing the BJP’s electoral, as opposed to spiritual, reliance on Ram while simultaneously investing in a public campaign that prioritises bread and butter issues — the focal point of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra — could thus be a conscious strategy on the part of the Congress.