BJP’s X post signals Mathura and Kashi as next after Babri Masjid
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With a post on its official X handle quoting Baba Bageshwar that the dream of temples in Mathura and Kashi will be fulfilled, the BJP has indicated what critics say is that the party will continue its politics centred on temples even after the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, while RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that although the Sangh will not directly lead such campaigns, it will not prevent its volunteers from joining them and has urged Muslims to give up their claims over the sites.
Days after Bhagwat’s statement in Delhi that the Sangh would not actively participate in temple movements beyond Ayodhya, the BJP’s official account carried Baba Bageshwar’s remarks that just as Lord Ram had been enthroned in Ayodhya, Lord Krishna would soon take his seat in Mathura–Vrindavan, and the post framed this as the next stage of realising long-held aspirations of the Hindu community.
Bageshwar also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arguing that under his leadership, faith and tradition were being duly honoured, while the BJP’s post repeated the assertion that with the Ram Temple dream realised, Mathura and Kashi were the next steps.
The RSS chief, while stressing that the organisation would no longer be directly associated with temple agitations, said the sentiments of Hindu society regarding Kashi and Mathura could not be ignored, because these sites held the same spiritual weight as Ayodhya and naturally evoked an urge for reclamation.
He suggested that in the cases of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Eidgah in Mathura, Muslims could voluntarily relinquish their claims as a gesture towards harmony, since, in his words, it was only a matter of “three temples” and this would signal a significant step towards resolving longstanding disputes.
Critics have argued that this demonstrates the persistence of temple politics in the party’s strategy, even after the fulfilment of the Ram Mandir movement, while supporters within the Hindu nationalist fold have welcomed the articulation of Mathura and Kashi as the next symbolic goals in their political project.
