Hyderabad's Bhagyalakshmi temple back in limelight with Yogi's visit

The small shrine adjoining the iconic Charminar became the BJP's rallying point since the Hyderabad civic polls

The Bhagyalakshmi Temple at Charminar, BJP's rallying point during the 2020 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, is in national limelight again now during the party's two-day national executive committee meeting in the city.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was among the leaders who had darshan of Goddess Bhagyalakshmi and offered haarati on Sunday morning, before the conclusion day sessions of NEC.

Yogi was accompanied by Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay and its firebrand assembly floor leader Raja Singh, who represents the Goshamahal constituency in the communally sensitive old city.

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The small, disputed shrine contiguous with one of the four iconic minarets of Charminar became the cornerstone for the BJP's campaign in the December 2020 Hyderabad polls.

Going beyond its own expectations, the BJP won 48 wards out of the total 150 in GHMC, stunning the ruling TRS at 56. The BJP and TRS held four and 99 wards respectively before.

Home Minister Amit Shah, who was among the plethora of top BJP leaders deployed for the civic poll campaigning, had paid obeisance at the temple. The temple became a national cynosure then.

In fact, the party's GHMC electioneering had begun from the temple, even as the TRS accused the BJP of "communalising" the polls. The Telangana BJP leaders have since then made the temple visit a custom, to begin any important activity. Bandi set out on his 'Praja Sangrama Yatra'' after offering special prayers here in August last year.

Though Yogi had also campaigned in the GHMC polls, he could not visit the temple then. “The UP CM fulfilled his wish of offering prayers to Bhagyalakshmi mata today,” a city BJP leader said. There was a buzz that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would also visit the temple.

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During the GHMC polls, Yogi had pitched the name change of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar.

“If Faizabad in UP can become Ayodhya, Allahabad be Prayagraj, then why not Hyderabad become Bhagyanagar?,” Yogi had queried while addressing a rally at Laldarwaza, close to Charminar, in the old city where the AIMIM shows dominance.

While speaking at the BJP's Vijay Sankalp public rally later on Sunday evening, Yogi mentioned “Bhagyanagar” a few times.

“Kamal khilega Telangana mein; bhagya badlega Bhagyanagar ka,” Yogi said while congratulating the BJP workers for the GHMC show.

Telangana BJP chief Bandi also invoked the deity, while expressing confidence of winning the 2023 Telangana assembly polls.

The name Bhagyanagar, espoused by the BJP, draws sharp criticism from the AIMIM "as an attempt to communalise a non-issue for the locals."

The Bhagyalakshmi temple controversy

The temple dedicated to Goddess Bhagyalakshmi (the one bestowing prosperity) stands across the road from the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad's communally sensitive location.

The police, a perennial presence here, are deployed in extra numbers, with eyes peeled on Fridays.

The Archaeological Survey India which supervises the Charminar maintains the temple is an intrusion on the monument's premises. While there is no documented evidence to show that the shrine is older than six decades, BJP leaders claim it is at least 200 years old. Some Hindu groups say the temple site predates Charminar built in 1591.

The AIMIM led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has made its opposition to the Hindu shrine, its expansion public several times earlier.

In November, 2012, the party legislators gathered in protest, when the temple management restored the roof as per the Andhra Pradesh high court orders. An MLAs' arrest and sporadic violent acts then kept the old city tense for a few days.

In November 2019, during the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case verdict in the Supreme Court, Owaisi, reacting to a question, wondered if the “ASI under the BJP government can take action,” on the disputed Bhagyalakshmi temple site.

While ordering against further expansion of the temple, the HC had earlier reportedly asked for status-quo maintenance at the site. Devotee darshans, daily rituals go on.