Congress party a divided house over decision to drop Ramayana reading programme

The Congress did not want to lose out and leaders such as MP Shashi Tharoor, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and KPCC vichar vibhag convener Nedumudi Harikumar tried to promote Ramayana reading.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The decision of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vichar vibhag (intellectual cell) to drop the Ramayana reading programme has evoked a mixed response from Congress leaders and cadre.

The party’s state unit was planning to conduct Ramayana reading from the first day of Karkidakam month starting Tuesday. Karkidakam is in the news as the month of Ramayana with the RSS and Hindu organisations promoting the reading of Ramayana at temples and Hindu households throughout the month.
Seeing the immense popularity of Ramayana reading, the CPM too jumped on the bandwagon and Samskrita Sangham, an outfit packed with Left-leaning intellectuals, took up the initiative to propagate Ramayana rendering.

However, CPM party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and state committee member K Sivadasan, who was coordinating the Samskrita Sangham’s activities albeit in a covert manner, denied the party having any role in the Ramayana rendering. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury also denied the party’s involvement in the affair.

The Congress did not want to lose out and leaders such as MP Shashi Tharoor, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and KPCC vichar vibhag convener Nedumudi Harikumar tried to promote Ramayana reading. However, leaders such as V M Sudheeran, K Muraleedharan and Pandalam Sudhakaran openly attacked the party for “moving towards the Hindutva political space”.Stung by the criticism, the backers of the Ramayana reading programme had no option but to drop the idea.

However, not everybody is happy about the development.“The party washing its hands off Ramayana is an insult to it,” said a Congress leader on condition of anonymity. “This means that the party leaders have succumbed to the appeasement of minorities. If these leaders can openly attend and conduct the rituals and programmes of minority communities in the glare of media, what is the problem for the party in organising Ramayana reading?”

Another top leader, who did not wish to be named, said, “The party is taking a callous attitude to religion-based polarisation that’s happening in the state and we could have conducted the Ramayana reading as this would have at least communicated to the Hindu masses and followers that the Congress party is not aloof from them.”According to some leaders, the Ramayana programme could have helped the party shed the tag of minority appeaser.

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