164 "Presenting" the Past
the issues of the Mandal Commission and Mandir at Ayodhya. In the 1989
state assembly elections in UP, the Janata Dal won a majority of the seats
(203 out of 425), and the BJP got only 57.^45
The February 1990 state assembly elections in a few northern states
pushed the BJP to the center stage of Indian politics. While the Congress
(I), which was the ruling party in all the states that went to the polls, won
417 of the 1,559 seats it contested, the BJP bagged 498 with candidates in
some 1,000 seats.^46 The BJP formed governments on its own in MP (with
219 members of the legislative assembly [MLAs]) and HP (with 44 MLAs),
and in coalition with the Janata Dal in Rajasthan (85 MLAs) and Gujarat
(67 MLAs). In their 1991 general elections manifesto, the BJP committed
to building the Ram temple at Ayodhya by relocating the "superimposed
Babri structure with due respect," as they considered the temple construc-
tion "a symbol of vindication of our cultural heritage and national self-
respect."^47 The BJP, which had 85 members in the outgoing Parliament,
improved their position to 119, polling 20.21 percent of the total votes
in the 1991 elections. Although 183 of the BJP candidates forfeited their
deposits, failing to poll the minimum votes necessary, the assassination of
Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, just after the first round of polling, did affect the
outcome to some extent. The majority of the BJP MPs were elected from
the Hindi-Urdu heartland.^48
With this newfound mandate from the people, the Sangh Parivar was
marching forward with their Ayodhya program. Even in the midst of this
communal frenzy, a nationwide India Today-MARG poll revealed that more
than half of the people were against demolishing the mosque and wanted
both the temple and the mosque to coexist. Even in the BJP-ruled states, 48
percent favored coexistence. Only a meager 16 percent opted for the demo-
lition of the mosque to build the temple.^49 Immediately after the December
1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid, all four BJP state governments were
dismissed by the Central government. Another India Today-MARG opin-
ion poll in July 1993 found out that there was an almost overwhelming
view that the Ram temple should be constructed in Ayodhya. Even 50 per-
cent of the Muslims accepted the construction. Among those who wanted
the temple built, only 51 percent wanted it on the controversial spot. Some
44 percent of the people polled wanted the temple away from the site, or
the temple and the mosque side by side. On the question of who should
build the temple, even half of the BJP sympathizers wanted an indepen-
dent trust to build it and not the VHP.^50
When the BJP-run state governments were dismissed in UP, MP, HP,
and Rajasthan at the wake of the mosque demolition, and elections were
conducted in November 1993, the BJP put up a stern fight. Their election
manifesto began with a quote from the Ramcaritmanas of Tulsidas: "In the
Kingdom of Rama, no one suffered any torment—material, physical or
spiritual. No one died a premature death. No one was subject to pain and