CM Samrat Choudhary pays tribute to Ashok Singhal on birth anniversary
Synopsis
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary marked the birth anniversary of Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal on 27 September 2026, honouring his decades-long role as the central organiser of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and his dedication to dharma, culture, and nation.
Key Takeaways
Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary posted a tribute to Ashok Singhal on his birth anniversary on 27 September 2026 .
Singhal was a senior leader of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) , founded in 1964 , and the foremost organiser of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation launched in the mid-1980s.
The Ram Janmabhoomi movement culminated in the 2019 Supreme Court verdict permitting construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya .
Choudhary described Singhal's dedication to dharma, sanskriti aur rashtra (religion, culture, and nation) as 'eternally memorable.' BJP leaders routinely mark anniversaries of prominent VHP figures tied to the Ayodhya movement as part of the party's cultural-political narrative.
A towering figure in India's most consequential religious-political movement of the twentieth century, Ashok Singhal is being remembered on his birth anniversary — and Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary was among the first to offer homage on Sunday, 27 September 2026.
Posting on X in Hindi, CM Choudhary saluted Singhal as 'shri Ram Janmabhoomi andolan ke pramukh dhwajavaahak' — 'the foremost standard-bearer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi movement' — and described him as the 'apex figure' of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). He wrote that Singhal's dedication to 'dharma, sanskriti aur rashtra' — religion, culture, and nation — and his contribution to the Ram temple movement 'will always be remembered.'
The man who kept the Ayodhya flame burning
Ashok Singhal spent decades as one of the most recognisable faces of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, the Hindu nationalist body founded in 1964 that formally launched the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation in the mid-1980s. Under his sustained organisational effort, the VHP coordinated temple processions and mass mobilisation drives that drew millions across the country and kept the Ayodhya cause at the centre of India's political conversation for over a generation.
The movement he championed found its legal culmination in the 2019 Supreme Court verdict, which cleared the path for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The temple's consecration, years after Singhal's death, was widely seen as the realisation of the campaign he had devoted his life to.
BJP's ritual of remembrance for the Ayodhya architects
Choudhary's tribute is part of a well-established pattern: BJP leaders regularly mark the birth and death anniversaries of senior VHP figures closely associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign. Since the 1990s, these acknowledgements have served as a consistent thread linking the party's cultural-political identity to the Ayodhya movement's legacy.
For a state-level leader like Choudhary, such commemorations also carry a local resonance — Bihar was a significant site of VHP mobilisation during the movement's peak decades, and the state's large Hindu electorate remains deeply connected to the Ayodhya narrative.
As similar tributes arrive from BJP and VHP quarters through the day, Singhal's birth anniversary stands as an annual moment when the architects of modern India's most transformative religious movement are brought back into public memory — and into active political conversation.
Point of View
Culture, and nation, the message also reinforces the ideological vocabulary that the party has used consistently since the 1990s to frame itself as the custodian of Hindu civilisational interests. For a Bihar-based leader, it carries additional weight: the state was a key mobilisation zone during the movement's peak, and the tribute speaks as much to a local constituency as to a national audience. Expect similar commemorations from BJP leaders at the state and central level throughout the day.
NationPress
27 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Ashok Singhal?
Ashok Singhal was a senior leader of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the principal organiser of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, which sought the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
What was Ashok Singhal's role in the Ram Mandir movement?
Singhal was widely regarded as the foremost standard-bearer of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation, coordinating mass mobilisation drives and temple processions across India through the VHP from the mid-1980s onward.
When was Ashok Singhal's birth anniversary?
Ashok Singhal's birth anniversary falls on 27 September, marked each year by tributes from BJP and VHP leaders across the country.
What is the Vishva Hindu Parishad?
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) is a Hindu nationalist organisation established in 1964 that spearheaded the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation and remains active in Hindu religious and cultural causes in India.
Why did Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary pay tribute to Ashok Singhal?
CM Choudhary paid tribute on Singhal's birth anniversary to honour his decades-long contribution to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and his dedication to dharma, culture, and the nation — a practice consistent with BJP leaders marking anniversaries of key Ayodhya movement figures.
