Letter from Delhi: Time to call political bluff

It's amazing how an election brings all Sangh outfits together on the Ayodhya issue. First the RSS and then the BJP promptly endorsed the VHP move to mobilise people for the cause of the temple.

The same BJP steered clear of the contentious issue all these years in power. So much so that a senior BJP leader in the union ministry said that the party wouldn't sacrifice the government for a temple. Today, the party is in the Opposition in Uttar Pradesh. The general elections are also knocking at the door. And ever so methodically, the BJP has joined the Sangh chorus to whip up communal fervour in the name of a Ram temple.

It's high time that the believers of Ram question the BJP's sincerety on the Ayodhya issue. It must come clear on where it stands. It can't distance itself from the so-called Ram temple movement and join back at its own convenience.

When the BJP is in power, it keeps a safe distance from the Ayodhya issue and the so-called apolitical outfits in the Sangh Parivar keep stoking the fire. Once the poll is in sight and the BJP needs to bolster its vote base, the shelved issue is dusted up and the party openly joins the Sangh chorus to mobilise jingoistic support.

The modus operandi doesn't change. Like in the past, the VHP is convening Ram Bhaktas to New Delhi, from where they will rally to Ayodhya to test the law and order arrangements and also the secular fabric of India. This is simple playing with fire for cheap electoral gain. Every sensible Indian should call the VHP's bluff. The Parivar has reduced the temple movement to an electoral tool while it tries to project it as an issue related to Hindutva and Hindu pride. In the process, the essential tolerance of Hinduism has been the greatest loser.

One didn't expect Om Prakash Chauthala to be the first chief minister to think up innovative incentives for family planning. And one certainly didn't expect a traditional Haryana to respond positively to such moves. But beyond stereotypes, the state and its chief minister have set brave examples for all other states and chief ministers to follow.

To stabilise the swelling population of Haryana and check the declining sex ratio, Chaudhury Devi Lal Rashtra Utthan Evam Parivar Kalyan Yojna (DEVIRUPAK) was launched in September last year. It offers monthly incentive of up to Rs500 for 20 years to a couple accepting a terminal method of family planning (vasectomy or tubectomy) after the birth of the first child or after the birth of two girl children. While maximum incentive is for those couples who adopt terminal method after a single girl child, for couples with a male child or two girl children, the incentive is fixed at Rs200 a month for 20 years.

Within one year, the scheme has been a remarkable success. Already 2,494 couples have been registered and 180 undergone sterilisation. While it has been a path breaking effort, I feel that job incentive can further popularise such schemes. The state machinery has to be active to tackle the population problem and check the sex ratio. The two-child norm for the candidates in Panchayat elections has been a right move.