We all know, and many revere, Hanuman, the divine vanara and devoted companion of Sri Ram. Never would we have imagined the two cosmic comrades be ever posited as the rival icons in a bitter political battle in India.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's first act after being released on 20 days’ temporary bail by the Supreme Court was to thank his dear Lord Hanuman. Some time ago, Kejriwal recited Hanuman Chalisa, a devotional hymn praising the monkey god. In January, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi launched a “Sundarkand” recitation event in all assembly constituencies. Sundarakandam is the chapter in Ramayana that narrates the adventures of Hanuman. The next day after his release, Kejriwal, watched by national and international media, appeared at his favourite Hanuman temple in Connaught Place to seek blessings, as always, before launching his high-voltage election campaign. Kejriwal’s sensational imprisonment and his alternative Hindutva politics appear to catapult the AAP leader to the apex of the opposition camp that could even redraw India’s political map radically. Some observers see this as the 55-year-old former engineer and Indian Revenue Service officer’s historic journey towards the nation’s highest political office.

Kejriwal’s repeated demonstrations of devotion to Hanuman and his other ways of evoking Hindu motifs again point to his resolve to take on the BJP in their own game. Though it has deeply worried hardcore secularists, many, even among them, see this as an astute strategy to undermine BJP’s biggest claim - a monopoly over the Hindu religion and its iconography. More than the Kejriwal government’s pro-people policies, this strategy is often cited as the prime reason for AAP becoming the only party that trounced the BJP, right in the nation’s capital, repeatedly even at the heights of Hindutva or Narendra Modi waves.

Even committed secular leaders have been known for their devotion to their favourite gods, godmen or godwomen. Gandhiji’s faith in Sanatan Hinduism and his devotion to Ram and Ramrajya were fundamental to his personal and public life. Most Congress and other non-Communist leaders have publicly demonstrated their religious beliefs, except for the agnostic Pandit Nehru, who even directed President Rajendra Prasad not to attend the Somnath Temple renovation ceremony. Nehru contended that the head of a secular nation, which treats followers of every faith equally, should........

© Mathrubhumi English