Personal is political: When Rahul visits a Wayanad temple known as south's Varanasi

Thirunelli (Wayanad): It was a perfect example of a political visit getting an intense personal touch when Congress president Rahul Gandhi visited the Lord Mahavishnu temple at Thirunelli.

It can also be construed as a personal visit gaining political dimensions.

Rahul, the Congress candidate in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, visited the temple, believed to be 5000 years old.

He offered 'balitharpan', or offering to God as a tribute to ancestors, for his late father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The ashes of the slain former PM were immersed in Thirunelli in 1991 by Congress activists led by former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran.

Rahul began his one-day tour of Wayanad constituency with this pious gesture, which was perhaps conceived to be a low-key one.

Clad in a traditional Kerala 'mundu' and 'kasavu melmundu', Rahul was accompanied by senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, Mullappally Ramachandran and K C Venugopal during the temple visit.

Rahul performed the ritual at Papanasini as per instructions by the temple priest.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal later told media that Rahul performed the rites for his forefathers including father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi, the martyrs of Pulwama terror attack and the victims of political violence in Kerala.

Party insiders say Rahul wanted to visit the temple when he came to file nomination itself.

This did not materialise due to security issues.

This time also Rahul wanted to keep it a personal affair.

Still, he greeted those who had gathered on the temple premises to see him.

After the prayers, Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the visit “brought back fond memories of him (Rajiv Gandhi) and our time together.”

“Today I visited the Thirunelli Temple in Wayanad, Kerala. This beautiful temple & its surroundings are an oasis of peace & serenity,” he added, sharing the pictures.

It might have been just a personal affair for the Congress chief, but for those who wish to read between the lines, the temple visit offers much political implications to interpret.

Rahul Gandhi's temple visits have always been a topic of debate with the Congress projecting it as Rahul's expression of his faith and the respect to the land's traditions.

His political rivals allege that such acts were an attempt to traverse the soft Hindutva line, with an intent to counter the hardline Hindutva stance of the BJP.

The Wayanad temple visit can well be read as Rahul's subtle assertion to the RSS and BJP leaders, who accused him of fleeing Amethi to a safe seat, “where the minority is in a majority”.

The BJP has been projecting Rahul's “escape” to Wayanad as an “affirmation of his fear” of the Hindu community.

With the Thirunelli visit, Rahul conveys to his detractors that he has wholeheartedly embraced the Hindu faith and its customs.

The act also conveys a message to the Hindu community in Kerala that the Congress always supports the traditions linked to religion.

This assumes significance at a time when the BJP is moving heaven and earth to make the Sabarimala issue a major poll plank, despite restrictions imposed by the Election Commission.

The BJP has been trying to make inroads into the Hindu community in the state by projecting itself as the only party that can save the religion's customs and traditions.

By visiting Thirunelli temple, a major spiritual centre of Wayanad, Rahul also established himself as one who understands and values the traditions of the land from where he is contesting.

The message to the electorate in his constituency is that he is one among them.

It is notable that immediately after the temple visit, Rahul proclaimed at a rally in Sulthan Bathery that he chose Wayanad because of its multicultural nature.

It may be a coincidence that Thirunelli is popularly known as the south's Kashi, or Varanasi.

Prime Minister Modi is contesting from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

Perhaps, Rahul has pitted Kashi to take on Varanasi through subtle imageries.