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Heaven sent? India's opposition parties build temples to woo Hindu voters

DIGHA: Bengalis have always flocked to Digha, a coastal resort town in the Indian state of West Bengal. But a new attraction is now proving to be a hot draw for thousands of visitors. It is Jagannath Dham, an imposing sandstone temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a much-loved deity in Bengal and whose hulking chariot lies at the origin of the English word "juggernaut". Among the thousands of visitors on July 5 was 45-year-old sari-clad Sandhya Dutta, who was busy taking selfies against the temple's towering 65m-tall central complex. "The possibility of seeing such a beautiful temple in Digha gives this place a different attraction," said Dutta, who has visited the town several times. "With this temple, I felt like coming here again." Constructed by the state government at a reported cost of 2.5 billion rupees (US$29.1 million), Jagannath Dham opened with much fanfare in April 2025. It is an attempt by the opposition All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which governs West Bengal, to mobilise support from Hindus at a time when the party has been accused by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of appeasing Muslims. The BJP seeks to dethrone its rival from power in a state election in early 2026. Building temples is proving to be a key way for political parties to attract Hindu votes. Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP) - another key opposition force in the state of Uttar Pradesh - is overseeing the construction of a major temple in his party's traditional stronghold in Etawah district ahead of an assembly election in 2027. While the ruling Hindu-nationalist BJP has long been known to use its support for temples to garner votes from Hindus, it is becoming increasingly important for other Indian political parties to cater - or at least, be seen as catering - to the religious sentiments of Hindus. They make up around 80 per cent of the country's population. Saba Naqvi, a senior political commentator, said: "Faith, under the BJP's domination, has become a way of mobilising people in India." This, she noted, is especially true, given the lack of meaningful socio-economic empowerment, with marginalised Hindu caste groups still stuck at the bottom of the ladder. "Temples, on the other hand, are a place that are open to everyone. They're a place where there is egalitarian participation. And people who are on the margins of caste feel they are insiders when they go there and participate equally in mass worship," Naqvi told The Straits Times. A formidable political force today, the BJP's rise in popularity in the 1990s was shaped by its vocal pitch for a grand temple dedicated to Hindu deity Ram in Ayodhya. Its veteran leader L. K. Advani went around the country on a tour in 1990 to whip up public support for the construction of such a temple at the site of the 16th century Babri Mosque, believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. The mosque was demolished by a Hindu mob in 1992, giving way to a protracted legal battle over the fiercely contested site. It ended when the Supreme Court gave custody of the site to Hindus in 2019 and cleared the path for the construction of a temple. The opening of a Ram Temple at the site - a promise first made in the BJP's election manifesto in 1996 - marked a high point for the party as Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the temple's inauguration in January 2024. Its fruition even formed a key plank of the party's voter outreach during the general election later in 2024 that saw the BJP return to power, albeit with a significantly reduced share of seats in Parliament. The BJP continues to deploy its temple strategy, investing massively in the development of temple towns such as Varanasi and Mathura, along with Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It recently announced a "Mission Temple" campaign, aimed at rejuvenating ancient temples across the state, according to a July 9 report on online news portal News18. In West Bengal, the TMC is leaving no stone unturned to capitalise on the Jagannath temple. The road from Kolkata to Digha - a distance of about 190km - was lined with banners put up by the state government and TMC leaders, welcoming visitors to the chariot festival of Lord Jagannath at the temple from June 27 to July 5. A beaming Mamata Banerjee, the state's Chief Minister, graced the banners with her palms joined together in a namaste, the traditional Hindu gesture for a greeting. The party's temple propaganda reached more than ten million households across the state with the distribution of sacred offerings, packed in a box together with a postcard featuring Banerjee's printed greetings, along with photos of the deity and the temple. At Digha, visitors were clearly happy. "We are Hindus. If a temple is constructed, no matter where, we will surely welcome it," said Sumanta Mondal, a 48-year-old West Bengal farmer, who came with his family from Bankura, nearly 180km away. "If one is created in my district, it would be even better. I would not have to come this far." Supporters of Banerjee and her party were jubilant. Bhabani Das, a municipal contractual health worker in her early 50s from the North 24 Parganas district, was thrilled to visit the Jagannath temple in Digha as she has not had the time or money to visit the 12th century Jagannath temple farther away in Puri in the state of Odisha. The temple in Digha is a replica of the more famous one in Puri. "May her lifespan increase by as many years as the number of hairs on my head," said Das, whose head is full of black hair. She showed her left arm, which has the name "Mamata" tattooed on it, an expression of her support for the state's chief minister. In recent years, the BJP has emerged as the single largest opposition party in West Bengal, posing a growing threat to the TMC's dominance as it racks up voter support from more Hindus. This has prompted the TMC to change tact and also mobilise Hindu support by throwing its weight behind local Hindu festivals, such as the Tribeni Kumbh Mela, and now the construction of this major temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath. Naqvi said: "With this temple, Mamata seems to be telling the BJP and her critics, I'm also a keeper of the faith. Who the hell are you?" The BJP has targeted Banerjee by calling her a "fake Hindu" and stating that government funds cannot be used to construct temples. It has even alleged that the sacred offerings from the Jagannath temple that were sent out by the TMC were made by Muslims. In Uttar Pradesh, the SP's move to build a temple also aims to counter the BJP's narrative, which accuses it of pandering to Muslim sentiments, while neglecting Hindus. Modelled after the Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand, a key pilgrimage site for Hindus, the Kedareshwar Mahadev Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is being built by a trust headed by Yadav. Yadav laid its foundation stone in 2021, seven months after Modi did the same for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The Kedareshwar Mahadev Temple is slated for completion in 2026, well before the next state election in the following year. Its opening is also being seen as an attempt by the Yadavs to assert their claim on the Hindu faith. The Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh are formally included as "Other Backward Classes", a group that includes marginalised castes and disadvantaged communities. In May 2024, Yadav visited a temple in Kannauj, following which a viral video purportedly showed BJP workers washing the temple with holy water from the Ganges to "purify" the temple. The incident was exploited by the SP to portray the BJP as a party that does not favour the interests of marginalised caste groups. And what of the Congress, India's leading opposition party? It has not launched any such high-profile temple construction initiative, although its leader Rahul Gandhi was seen visiting temples during his 2024 election campaign. For all the building and intense competition, the temple strategy does have its limits - something that became evident when the BJP lost the parliamentary seat in Faizabad, which includes the city of Ayodhya, to its rival SP in the 2024 General Election. Marginalised Hindu caste groups rallied around SP because of their fear that the BJP - in case it won a majority - would alter the Constitution and dilute job reservations allocated in it for them. Anger over unemployment was another factor that led to the BJP's loss. The SP candidate won by a margin of 54,567 votes, indicating that religion is just one of the many factors Indian voters keep in mind when they queue up to elect their leaders. - The Straits Times/ANN

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