It has taken a controversy over laddus at the Tirumala Tirupati temple for the Supreme Court to finally emphasise that religion should be kept separate from politics. “We expect Gods to be kept away from politics,” declared the court in its order on allegedly contaminated Tirupati laddus.
At long last, the top court has sought to correct, at least by one sentence, the snowballing religion-isation of Indian politics. Almost every party is being forced to wear religion on its sleeve. In the decade of BJP dominance, the journey from so-called “minority appeasement” to a competitive majority appeasement has been achieved. The apex court has, by its order, at least forced some caution on the increasingly ready recourse to gods and goddesses to score at the ballot box.
