What Devotees Outside Devi Temples In Uttarakhand Thought About Rahul Gandhi’s 'Fighting Shakti' Remark

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) against Rahul Gandhi for his "fight against a shakti" remark in Mumbai last week.

The BJP urged the EC to take "stringent action" against Gandhi and issue directions for lodging a first information report (FIR) against him.

Addressing a public rally in the Maharashtra capital on 17 February, Gandhi said, "There is a word 'shakti' in Hinduism. We are fighting against a shakti."

He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot win elections without voting machines. "The question is, what is that shakti? The soul of the king is in the EVM. This is true. The soul of the king is in the EVM, and in every institution of the country, in ED, CBI, and the Income Tax department…," he added.

After the BJP’s attack on him, Gandhi said later he was talking about "asura shakti" or devil power.

The BJP claimed that Gandhi's comments were an insult to Shakti and women.

PM Modi has also criticised the Congress for the 'fighting Shakti' remark in his political speeches. In Tamil Nadu, he made a rousing mention of "Shakti," the divine feminine, and the belief of the people of the state in Shakti and her manifestations in a speech at a political rally. In Salem, 11 "Shakti Ammas" graced the dais in the presence of PM Modi.

Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand go to Lok Sabha polls during the first phase.

Shakt and Shakti are central to the devotion in Uttarakhand. The manifestations of the Devi are seen as inseparable from nature. In PM Modi’s politics and work in Uttarakhand, women in the state have acquired a place of prime importance as voters and protectors of dharma.

Any comment about "fighting Shakti" in the current political discourse, therefore, is unlikely to go unnoticed and unaddressed, particularly during election season.

This writer visited the Ma Daat Kali Siddha Peeth — the temple in Uttarakhand dedicated to a manifestation of Shakti, known for the legend of the lion, her own vehicle, roaming in the Shivalik Hills.

The tunnel that would previously open and receive heavy traffic from Dehradun to the doorsteps of the temple — from both directions — is now as quiet as the forest around.

The traffic has been diverted to a newly-constructed tunnel that leads to a new, dust-washed apparatus of construction and development emerging in the next phase of road infrastructure, shrinking travel time between Delhi and Uttarakhand via Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh). Work is also underway at another tunnel.

Dharma and development meet, quite literally, at the temple. And naturally, dharma and development become intermingled in conversations too.

So, when devotees were asked what they thought about the "fighting Shakti" comment, the answers did not percolate to dharma or devotion alone. They talked about the power of discipline and work.

Pradeep Bhatt, a devotee of Shakti, has been coming for darshan and seva since childhood. He believes that hearing comments against devis and devtas from politicians tends to be hurtful.

"We know why they want to do this — particularly during election season. But what exactly makes them talk in this manner about Shakti? She is the mother, most powerful. She is the one we worship. She is the one who draws the bhaktas."

One must notice, he added, that those who say such things are doing badly at their own work. "On the other hand, those politicians who are doing good work for dharma, for the public, and are spiritually devoted have positive results of their work to show." No names taken.

Reams of childhood memories make the journey between Shakumbhari Devi, a Siddha Peeth located in Saharanpur, and Daat Waali Mandir in Dehradun for Raju (went by his first name), a resident of Saharanpur.

During Navratra, his family follows the tradition of visiting both temples, as they are different destinations, and offer different emotional connections even though they are dedicated to Shakti.

"It (the comment) is inappropriate. We feel horrible when we hear such comments. Everyone at home feels bad. Politicians who have respect for dharma are the ones we understand and want to support. Why would any devotee of Ma want to hear something like this?" he said.

Even when one sets aside matters relating to Shakti, "Ma", dharma within politics, aside for a moment, the devotee tends to relate to Shakti as an energy to align with in day-to-day life that leads to this temple.

The prime reason is the massive structural change that has emerged around the temple on the Dehradun-Saharanpur highway in the vicinity of the temple, owing to the development of the roads and tunnels leading to the place of worship.

The changes support the temple ecosystem, making the journey and darshan experience easier for devotees and allowing them to observe the contrast between the past and present.

Among those devotees is Neeraj (went by his first name) who works in the hospitality industry abroad. "I am a bhakta of Shakti. My devotion helps me understand the immense positive energies in the women in my family, particularly the elders, and I am able to connect with it."

On Gandhi's comment, he said this change in stance of a leader who visited temples before an assembly election some years ago to woo Hindu voters indicated a clear shift and political opportunism.

"Such comments help citizens understand the difference between those leaders who can lead the nation and those who cannot, those who value the responsibility of respecting dharma and those who do not. The nation has made progress under good leadership that’s inclined to believe in Shakti," he said.

A devotee (who would not like to be named) who has given several years of seva to the Devi said, "Any comment about fighting Shakti herself is a result of 'anushasanheenta'. Political leaders must know that speaking against Shakti is a complete lack of discipline, which shows in their lack of success in the field. Lack of discipline and lack of success are correlated. Anyone who works against dharma will some day or another see its results himself. Also, today it might be easy for anyone to say anything to our devis and devtas, but our time will come."

He added that within Uttarakhand itself, there were leaders who had shown lack of spiritual discipline as politicians and saw impediments to their own political journeys. "None should underestimate the shakti of Shakti. It is easy to understand his (Gandhi's) party is suffering defeat after defeat," he said.

The queue for the cable car to the Manasa Devi Temple in Haridwar has a wait time of up to an hour. This time window is long enough for devotees, mostly from West Bengal and Gujarat, to engage with the local handicrafts, material for worship, ornaments, and so on being sold at the stalls around the temple.

It is during pilgrimage that they engage with the local expressions of belief in Shakti centering on Ganga and a manifestation of their own "Amba," their own "Ma Durga."

Devotees from Gujarat, without mentioning any politicians, expressed their natural inclination to support a leader aligned with dharma.

The dismissal of the contrast comes quickly with a slightly unpleasant tone and swift change in the facial expression.

"We have nothing to say about any leader who talks negatively about dharma. It's that simple. Humein baat hi nahin karni unke baare mein, wahan jaana hi nahin (we don’t even want to mention anything about them). Shraddha jise hai, wo unki baat hi nahin karega (the one who has faith won’t talk about them)," they said.

For these devotees, the Manasa Devi Mandir and Ganga are the manifestations of Shakti, who bestows upon them the strength to travel from a faraway state for pilgrimage to Uttarakhand.

Ankur Garg, a devotee outside the Manasa Devi Temple in Haridwar, highlighted Gandhi's lack of cultural understanding as the core issue behind his stance against Shakti.

According to Garg, the lack of understanding emanates from Gandhi being an "outsider" to the ethos of Hinduism and dharma itself.

He added: "When elders in the family heard about this statement in the news, they felt disturbed. Every time a negative reference is made to dharma or our devis and devtas, they conclude that his (Gandhi's) lack of connection with dharma is the only reason why such remarks are made. When it happens right before elections, it does give a message to those who are dharmic."

Campaign for the phase will be set during and around the celebration of Shakti during the Navratra. Gandhi’s shift from "fighting Shakti" to "fighting asura shakti" is unlikely to stop the BJP and PM Modi from adding poll-bound fervour to their invocation to Shakti and the gendered energies associated with Shakti during this period.

This report is part of Swarajya's 50 Ground Stories Project - an attempt to throw light on themes and topics that are often overlooked or looked down. You can support this initiative by sponsoring as little as Rs 2,999/-. Click here for more details.