On backfoot | BJP president had earlier picked Ramghat as venue for holy dip * Last-minute change after saints expressed reservations
Flanked by seers, BJP chief Amit Shah on Wednesday took a holy dip at the Valmiki Ghat of Kshipra river, on the occasion of Simhastha Kumbh mela, in line with the strategy of the party and the RSS to reach out to the Dalits.
Amidst a controversy over the party's caste-based outreach, Shah devoted six hours in the city, where besides the ten-minute “samrastha snan (social harmony bath)”, he addressed saints and others at the Valmiki Dham and had “samrastha bhoj (social harmony feast)” with saints.
With an apparent eye on upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017, the BJP has been weaving out an outreach programme to bring Dalits into its fold. The earlier plan announced by Deendayal Vichar Manch was that Shah would march about 1.5 km from Valmiki Dham to Ramghat along with Dalit saints and then take a dip at Ramghat, the most ancient of the ghats along the banks of Kshipra river. This was changed at the last minute after the RSS and some saints expressed their reservations, according to sources. They were of the view that it would send a message that Dalits were so far kept out, which was not the case.
The venue for Shah's holy dip was changed to a quieter Valmiki Ghat, where saints including some belonging to the Dalit Community, joined him, in a symbolic gesture.
The BJP's efforts to woo Dalits at the Simhastha Kumbh, an event that takes place once in 12 years and draws people from across the country, was seen by some saints as an attempt at bringing politics into a religious-cultural event. According to the organisers of the samrastha snan, the sadhus had misunderstood the concept and had softened later.
The Dwarka-Sharda and Jyotish Peeth's Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati and Akhil Bharatiya Akahara Parishad president Narendra Giri were reported to have said that sadhus have no caste and all were free to take holy dip during the Kumbh. A similar view was expressed earlier by Prabhakar Kelkar of the Sangh's Kisan wing.
Shah, however, refrained from mentioning the word 'Dalit' in his five-minute speech. “BJP is the only party which believes in strengthening the country's culture and fosters the feeling of world as one abode, one family (Vasudevkutumbhkam),” Shah said after taking blessings of the saints present on the dais, which had a huge poster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying tributes to seers. Shah said that with this dip he would complete all four Kumbhs – Haridwar, Nasik, Allahabad and Ujjain.
“It holds more significance as today is the jayanti of Shankaracharya, who at just 32 set off on the path of unifying the thoughts in Hindu religion,” he said.
Earlier, Valmiki Dham's Peethadheeshwar Umesh Nath said communal harmony will be possible only if there is “heart, mind and commitment”.
Appreciating Shah for choosing Valmiki ghat, he appealed for overcoming the caste divide. “Saints have no castes...Let's resolve to work towards a casteless society,” he said before joining Shah for the dip.
Among those present on the dais were Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP general secretaries Kailash Vijayavargiye and Anil Jain, Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad head Narendra Giri, Juna Akhara Peeth's head Awdheshanand, controversial Sadhvi Prachi and around around a dozen other saints.
A seer from Gwalior Operation Baba, who was also present on the dais, said reaching out to a caste was bringing politics into the kumbh. “It's being here but setting eyes elsewhere.”
This time, the state government is also planning an international 'vaicharik Kumbh' to revive a theological dialogue.
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