NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday inaugurate a temple that embodies the triumph of his muscular Hindu nationalist politics, in an unofficial start to his re-election campaign this year.
The 50-metre (160-foot) tall house of worship for the deity Ram was built on grounds where a mosque stood for centuries before it was torn down by Hindu zealots incited by members of Modi’s party.
That demolition in 1992 triggered the worst religious riots since independence — killing 2,000 people, most of them Muslims — and shook the foundations of India’s officially secular political order.
But for Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the opening of the Ram Mandir temple in the northern town of Ayodhya is a landmark moment in a decades-long campaign to align the country’s governance with its majority faith.
“I am fortunate that I will also be a witness to this auspicious occasion,” Modi said last week, announcing he was embarking on an 11-day ritual fast ahead of the opening.
“The Lord has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India.”
Thousands of people are expected to throng Ayodhya for the ceremony alongside celebrity guests including billionaire Indian tycoons, former national cricket captain Virat Kohli and Bollywood titan Amitabh Bachchan.
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