The Ayodhya Ram Temple construction campaign propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s rise from two Lok Sabha seats in 1984 to 85 in 1989. Today, the party is leading the government for a third consecutive term, with 240 seats on its own and 318 with allies in the 543-member House.
On August 10, a group of Hindu seers announced voluntary service in Mathura for December 6. They had earlier announced August 9 as the date, claiming the first consignment of pink sandstone from Bansi Paharpur in Bharatpur had also arrived. Similar announcements were made in 2021, ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, when the administration barred large gatherings after Hindu Mahasabha called for a ritual at the Mathura Idgah on December 6, coinciding with the anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.
The administration said that nothing would be permitted without court directives.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Mathura on Janmashtami, marking Lord Krishna’s birth celebrations, and reiterated his promise of a grand temple complex there and in Vrindavan on the lines of Ayodhya. The government has left the contentious issue of the Gyanvapi mosque to the courts while the Ram Temple was built in Ayodhya. The court model applies to Mathura as well. The late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited the shrine in the 1970s. Adityanath has frequently visited the Krishna Janmasthan as chief minister. Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh, the other two BJP chief ministers, also prayed there. Vir Bahadur Singh of the Congress visited the shrine twice as the chief minister.
Narendra Modi became the first Prime Minister to visit the Krishna Janmasthan Temple in November 2023. In 1991, he offered prayers there when he was the BJP organisational secretary at the peak of the Ram Temple movement.
During his previous visits to Mathura or in election meetings, he has repeatedly said: “After Ayodhya and Kashi [Varanasi], it is now the turn of Mathura.
