Thanksto a narrow political outlook that revolves around vote-bank politics, the country has been divided on the basis of caste, religion, and region. Now, it seems there is an attempt to divide Hindu religious traditions along North-South and rich-poor lines. It is really a matter of shame that a Chief Minister of a rich state like Telangana has played to the gallery by resorting to a political divide between two deities, Lord Shiva and Lord Rama, who are both deeply revered.

Revanth Reddy said that people in the South were Dravidians while those in the North were from the Aryan race. Lord Ram is associated with the rich, and Lord Shiva with the poor, and the BJP has stolen the rich god, Lord Rama. That is why, he said, they never chant the mantra “Har Har Mahadev” from public platforms, while those in the South always chant “Har Har Mahadev”.

His remarks clearly created a contrast between Ram and Shiva on regional, social and political lines. Why Revanth made such comments is what is puzzling, as he is considered a well-read, erudite and practising Hindu with an ABVP background.

I do not agree with someone saying that he did not know that what he said was not correct. Hence, the question arises: was it to please his political bosses, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, or was it simply a slip of the tongue?

Revanth Reddy is a man who was well trained during his tenure in the TDP in effective public speaking and normally does not indulge in making such irrational comments. That makes his latest remarks even more intriguing.

What is more disturbing is why the Congress party has neither distanced itself from these comments nor stood by what he said. To make things more complicated, Telangana PCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud publicly defended Reddy, saying both deities are revered and arguing that the BJP is using Lord Ram for electoral politics. So, does Congress now want to use Shiva for politics?

What one needs to note here is that politicians in India can only take such liberties with Hindu deities and shudder to make any comment even on issues like land grabbing by the Waqf or make any comment about the religious beliefs of any other faith. If anyone dared to do so, he would be punished by the party.

But in the case of Hindu gods, the party's top leadership would try to get away by saying that it is not the party line and that it may be the individual's opinion. But in this case, the so-called individual is a responsible person holding a constitutional position — the post of Chief Minister.

Is this part of the Congress's game plan to appease Muslim minorities and protect their real or illusory vote bank? Is that why the Congress is maintaining silence over Revanth's remarks?

If the Congress feels that the Telangana Chief Minister wanted to attack the BJP's political use of Lord Ram, it is a miscalculation. What Revanth said amounts to an attack on Hindu faith.

As far as people are concerned, whether from the North or South, Lord Ram and Lord Shiva are equally revered. Telangana has the famous Ram Temple at Bhadrachalam, which is considered to be the second Ayodhya, and it is this very Chief Minister who has presented silk robes to Lord Rama on the day of the celestial wedding.

He needs to explain whether it was out of reverence or because Ram is a rich god. It would have been better if he had looked back into four-decade-old history.

It was on February 1, 1986, when the Faizabad district judge ordered the opening of the locks of the disputed structure at Ayodhya, allowing Hindu devotees access to worship Lord Rama. This happened during the regime of Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister.

On November 3, 1989, Rajiv Gandhi chose to launch his poll campaign from Ayodhya — to be more specific, Faizabad — where he spoke of establishing Ram Rajya. Originally, he was scheduled to start the campaign from Nagaur.

Congress leaders do not get tired of praising Rajiv Gandhi to the skies. Fine, there is nothing wrong with it. But the question is: why did he choose Faizabad to launch his poll campaign? Was it because Ram was a rich god?

Does it mean that only the rich mattered to Congress at that point in time and not the poor, or was it part of the game plan to win over Hindu votes?

Even if we keep politics aside, Revanth was wrong about the fact that Shiva is the God of the South. Does he know that six of the 12 Jyotirlingas are in North, West, or Central India?

The prominent Shiva temple where the chant of “Har Har Mahadev” reverberates is the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, the constituency represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then there is the Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand, which is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and one of the four Char Dham sites in the Himalayas

Rudranath, Neelkanth Mahadev and Tungnath are also in Uttarakhand. Has he forgotten how Modi spent the night meditating for about 17 hours in the Rudra Meditation Cave, roughly 1–2 km from the Kedarnath shrine? Similarly, the ancient Shiva temple of Baijnath is in the Kangra region of Himachal Pradesh. The Somnath Temple in Gujarat and the Nageshwar Temple near Dwarka are also among the Dwadasa Jyotirlingas.

Another Jyotirlinga temple is Mahakaleshwar Temple at Ujjain, while Omkareshwar is in Madhya Pradesh. There are three other Jyotirlinga temples in Maharashtra — Bhimashankar, Trimbakeshwar at Nashik, and Grishneshwar in the Aurangabad region.

Neither Gujaratis nor Maharashtrians are Dravidians, but they still revere Lord Shiva as much as people from the South and the so-called Aryans from the North do.

The reality is that neither Lord Shiva nor Lord Rama belongs to one region, one caste or one economic class. They are revered across India.

A politician should strive to unite all regions, religions, and castes, not make any attempt to divide them. That was a colonial concept — to divide and rule — which unfortunately our leaders are still not able to shed. Unless our leaders change their mindset, it would be better if they stopped talking about protecting the Constitution while meddling with issues related to the Hindu religion. Gods do not need political identities. Politicians do.

(The author is a former Chief Editor at The Hans India)