Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Gadkari stated in his opening remarks at the BJP national council meeting in Indore

Today, I appeal to the Muslim community to be generous towards the sentiments and feelings of Hindus and facilitate the construction of a grand Ram temple. If you (Muslims) give up your claim on the land at the disputed site, we will cooperate in the construction of a magnificent masjid in a nearby land.

This, I think, is the light at the end of the tunnel for BJP in particular and India in general. Never before have we heard such open and consultative talk from the camp that wants to build the temple.

Many are claiming that Gadkari is ‘doing a Rahul’. I disagree. To raise a request such as this in a camp that is more than willing to use the temple/mosque issue into a vote bank takes a lot of gumption. Our man has shown just that.

It remains to be seen how the rest of the leadership responds. Already there are grumbles and chords of disagreement heard. But how he is going to handle these are these going to build up into a nasty in-fighting session in BJP as seen last year will prove whether this man will be capable of pulling the party out of its quagmire. I certainly hope and believe he will.

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