Hey Ram! What's with politicians? | Sonia 'saves' Ram

New Delhi: Lord Rama, revered by millions across the world, now the subject of a bitter political controversy.

The Congress feels archaeologists can't prove his existence. The BJP says there’s no need to prove anything of the kind.

So for 24 hours, they fought with each other and then in an act typical of Ramayana's legacy, the Congress blinked.

"All those who oppose Ram are wrong. It’s not our intention to hurt anyone,” said Law Minister H R Bhardwaj.

The debate has now assumed archaeological overtones. While the Congress is going into a hasty damage control, the BJP is out to score political points.

The debate revolves around the Sethusamudram project, a proposed water canal system that would have reduced travel time between the north and the eastern coast by half.

So what’s Lord Ram got to do with it?

The project would actually end up destroying an underwater bridge believed to have been built by Lord Ram and his vaanar sena to get to Lanka and rescue Sita.

So, BJP rushed to the rescue of the Ram Sethu. "It’s an insult to Hindu religion, the government must immediately withdraw the affidavit,” said BJP leader L K Advani.

For the BJP, the timing couldn't have been better, what with Gujarat, the original laboratory of Hindutva going to the polls in November.

Ever since the BJP was voted out of power, there have been many who feel that the party's close identification with Ram and Ram temple have now become an unwanted baggage.

Now as the party gets set for another bout of fighting over Ram, it might just have made a return to what was once its pet issue.

(With Shiv Pujan Jha, Meetu Jain and Pallavi Ghosh)

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#Sethusundaram Project #Ram Setu #Congress #BJP