They were the her-oes of 1991-92. People thro-nged to hear them and their word was command. Wherever they went, the media followed and whatever they said was splashed on the front pages of newspapers.
On September 30, when the verdict on the title suit was delivered, these “heroes” had turned into “zeroes”. There were no TV channels hounding them for sound bytes and no crowds outside their residences either. Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Sachchidanand Sakshi Maharaj, Swami Chinmayananad and Ram Vilas Vedanti, in the past two decades, have lost their role in the Ayodhya movement and their relevance in mainstream politics.
Former BJP leader Kalyan Singh, who was chief minister in UP in 1992 when the demolition took place in Ayodhya, was largely recognised as the architect of the Babri demolition. His histrionics that included his ‘conversations with Lord Ram on the hotline’ were eagerly lapped up by the people and Kalyan Singh became synonymous with all that was saffron.
However, his second stint as chief minister in 1997 was marked by a revolt by his MLAs and his diatribe against former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, followed by his subsequent ouster from the BJP took away the sheen.
He returned to BJP in 2004 but without the stature he held earlier. In January 2009, he again quit the BJP and joined hands with Mulayam Singh Yadav — only to call off the alliance in November again.
Interestingly, whenever Kalyan Singh has been out of the BJP, he has tried to distance himself from the temple movement — even claiming that he was kept in dark about demolition plans. His frequent change of ideology has left him bereft of credibility and dignity in politics and Kalyan Singh was snubbed by the local people during his recent Ayodhya visit.
Ms Uma Bharti is another leader whose shifting loyalties to the BJP have pushed her into political oblivion and her no-on, now-off relationship with the party has made her a non-player in the Ayodhya movement.
Sachichidanand Sakshi Maharaj was another saffron leader who spewed venom during the temple movement. A Kalyan Singh acolyte, he later became known for his criminal cases and his saffron politics took a beating when he chose the Samajwadi Party to enter Rajya Sabha. Today, he leads the Rashtriya Kranti Party but has lost political and religious relevance completely.
Former Union home minister of state, Swami Chinmayanand, was another Ayodhya leader who has lost public visibility after he lost elections in 2004. Former MP Ram Vilas Vedanti, once an active player in the temple movement, has also been pushed to the wings.
Sadhvi Rithambara who had virtually set the nation on fire with her fiery speeches in 1992, is also nowhere to be seen in 2010.