Ayodhya ‘Leaves’ A Mark: Half-Day, Holiday or Monday Blues? How Politics Dictated Jan 22 Decision

While as many as 16 states and Union Territories have declared either a holiday or half-day leave on January 22 on account of the Pran Pratishtha at Ram Temple in Ayodhya, one state and one union territory stands out — Odisha and Delhi. Both are ruled by Opposition parties — the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), respectively.

In fact, AAP is the only Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc member party (apart from Congress’s aberration in Himachal Pradesh in spite of its boycott of the Ayodhya event) that has announced a half-day leave on January 22 in Delhi, a decision quickly okayed by the Lieutenant Governor who otherwise has a track record of holding decisions.

While AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal has explicitly expressed interest in visiting the Ram Mandir on January 22 should he get an invite, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, too, has been flirting with Hindutva in his state, where the Lord Jagannath temple corridor in Puri is almost complete.

This is in stark contrast to the Congress and other opposition parties boycotting the January 22 event, let alone allowing a holiday on the day in the states where they are in power. In a letter to CM Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Sukanta Majumdar demanded a holiday, but it did not yield any results. She has instead decided to observe the day as ‘all faith day’.

Going against the party’s template and probably owing to the large Hindu electorate in the state, Himachal Pradesh on Sunday announced that all its government offices will remain shut on Monday. The now out-of-power Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, whose father is remembered for ordering firing on kar sewaks during the Babri demolition, has chosen his words carefully. He said he would visit the temple with his family soon after it is thrown open to the public.

There was no surprise in either Left-ruled Kerala or DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu — none have ordered any kind of closure. In fact, the CPIM came out with a statement condemning the Central government’s decision to grant a half-day leave. In Tamil Nadu earlier, DMK scion Udhayanidhi Stalin’s ‘Sanatana Dharma’ comment created a massive row that even put INDIA bloc allies in embarrassment. So a closure of government offices in Ram Mandir inauguration wasn’t even expected.

The BJP has predictably gone ahead with announcing Monday as either a holiday or half-day leave in states and Union territories where it rules. It includes Uttar Pradesh, where all the action is, as well as the three states it swept to power last December — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Interestingly, the only two North-Eastern states that figure on the list are BJP-ruled Tripura and Assam. While the BJP has its Chief Minister in Manipur, the strife-torn state has stayed away from announcing any such decisions. Also, the BJP is in the ruling alliance in Meghalaya and Nagaland, where there have not been any such announcement, owing to the largely Christian majority.

A list of states that have announced a public holiday/half-day leave on January 22, Monday:

A list of Union Territories that have announced a public holiday/half-day leave on January 22, Monday:

A list of states that have granted no concession on January 22:

• CPIM-ruled Kerala
• DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu
• YSRCP-ruled Andhra Pradesh
• Congress-ruled Telangana
• Congress-ruled Karnataka
• Congress-JMM-RJD-ruled Jharkhand
• RJD-JDU-ruled Bihar
• AAP-ruled Punjab
• Centre-administered Jammu and Kashmir
• Centre-administered Ladakh
• TMC-ruled West Bengal
• The entire North-East except Tripura and Assam