Having already lost its political sheen, cracks have begun to appear in the Ram Mandir movement with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Dwarkapeeth Shankaracharya at loggerheads over the issue of temple construction.
The two appear to be charting a diametrically opposite course since Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati, along with Hindu 'sadhus' and 'sants' and some Muslims, undertook a 'parikrama' of Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya on November 30.
The VHP, which claims to spearhead the movement, accused him of being 'an agent' of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and trying to get 'political mileage' out of the movement even as Uttar Pradesh heads for assembly elections early next year.
The Shankaracharya's camp claims the VHP has no locus standi in the dispute as it is not a party in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suits pending in Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court.
To the VHP's discomfiture, Bharatiya Janata General Secretary Vinay Katiyar and former Bajrang Dal convenor, associated with the temple movement since the early 1990s, also attended the Dwarka seer's programme.
Moreover, devotees from tribal belts of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and other states undertook the ritual circumambulation in traditional attire. People from various parts of Maharashtra also formed part of the 'parikrama,' which the seer said was not motivated by political considerations.
"We took part in the programme around Sri Ramjanambhoomi with a religious aim and it has nothing to do with politics nor is it meant to downgrade anybody," he said.
He said the 'parikrama' could pave the way for the Ram temple construction. "We are not against a mosque and that is the reason a large number of Muslims participated in the programme," the seer said.
The VHP leaders accuse the seer of trying to 'split' the temple movement and playing into the hands of the Congress. "Swaroopananad Saraswati has always been a puppet of the Congress and he has harmed the Ram temple cause," its senior leader and Ram Janambhoomi Nyas Trust member Ram Vilas Vedanti told PTI.
With the seer making it clear he would continue to strive for a 'negotiated settlement' of the vexed issue and the VHP adopting a hardline approach, the issue could well hot up by the time the electorate goes to the hustings.
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