VHP chief Ashok Singhal waves to his supporters after he was detained at Lucknow airport on Sunday morning
The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh managed to contain a potentially volatile situation in Ayodhya today with massive security deployment to prevent the Vishwa Hindu Parishad from launching a controversial yatra.
The VHP managed strategic photo ops when its leaders courted arrest in attempts to defy prohibitory orders and set the stage for the movement it plans from next month to revive its demand for a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.
(VHP yatra: 10 latest developments)
It also declared, as much drama unfolded in the narrow lanes of Ayodhya, that its yatra had been launched.
(VHP yatra: Ayodhya priest slams VHP)
Sunday morning's tokenism is being seen as win-win, politically.
The Akhilesh Yadav government had fortified Ayodhya with 8000 cops and made hundreds of preventive arrests since yesterday to ensure that the VHP was unable to set off on a 300-km march through six districts to circle Ayodhya, also called the 84 kos parikrama.
Today, the police arrested leaders like Praveen Togadia as he attempted to offer prayers at the Saryu river banks. Togadia has been sent to 14-day judicial. Former BJP parliamentarian Ram Vilas Vedanti and ex-Ayodhya MLA Lallu Singh have also been arrested.
At Lucknow airport, VHP chief Ashok Singhal was detained to prevent him from driving on to Ayodhya. He has refused to leave the airport and return to Delhi. "What crime have I done...They should tell me. There is Mughal rule in Uttar Pradesh, where saints are being stopped from worship," he told reporters.
In protest against the arrests, the VHP has decided to hold demonstrations across the country tomorrow. Protests have also been planned at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
The six UP districts that the VHP yatra would have traveled through have a sizeable Muslim population, a crucial vote bank for the Samajwadi Party. The Akhilesh Yadav government, which had sought to send a strong signal when it banned the VHP yatra last week, had a day later announced significant sops for minorities.
Today's demonstration of effective administration is expected to win it some more brownie points, close to general elections 2014.
The VHP's efforts this morning are also seen as focused on those elections. It is an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS as is the BJP, which rode the temple issue to power two decades ago. The RSS reportedly sees another opportunity to use the temple issue for political benefit.
The BJP was supportive, but strategically kept a distance from the yatra. The RSS reportedly wants the party to talk about development and target the Congress on corruption and scandals, while other wings like the VHP attempt to consolidate the Hindu vote bank for the general elections.