Rahul Gandhi's temple run helped Congress in Gujarat polls

New Delhi: Even if the Congress has lost the election in Gujarat, the new tilak-sporting janeu wearing incarnation of Rahul Gandhi has been a hit with the electorate.

The controversy created over Mr Gandhi’s name being entered in a register meant for non-Hindus came a cropper with the Congress winning all four seats in Gir Somnath district — Talala, Kodinar, Una and Somnath.

The benefits of soft Hindutva unveiled in these polls by the newly minted president of the Congress party got the party some gains.

Mr Gandhi began his campaign from the fam-ous Dwarkadheesh temple and visited many more, including the Chotila temple in Surendranagar, Ko-dhaldham temple in Raj-kot, Dwarkadheesh temple in in Dwarka, Ran-chodji temple in Kheda and Ak-shardham and Jagannath temples in Ahmedabad.

The Congress maintained that the temple run was not a message but rather a part of Mr Gandhi’s personal life.

“For Rahul Gandhi, religion is faith, not politics. This is the difference from the BJP,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

During a press conference in Ahmedabad Mr Gandhi had said that he was a ‘Shiv Bhakt’ and his visit to the Kedarnath shrine had not created any controversy. But his temple visits in Gujarat had. In a perceptible shift, the Congress has avoided a narrative which the party described as “polarising”.