Ram Vs Raavan: From Myth To Realpolitik 

On October 6 last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) official X handle uploaded a poster of Rahul Gandhi dressed as Raavan, sporting metallic war-guards and seven heads. The muscular image of the Congress leader accompanied a politically charged caption: “The new age Raavan is here. He is Evil. Anti-Dharma. Anti-Ram. His aim is to Destroy Bharat.” Interestingly, this poster popped up just three months before the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple, which was presided over by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

The contest over the portrayals of Ram and Raavan in Indian political narratives is not new. In December 1974, a year after the death of Dravidian activist-scholar Periyar, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supporters organised a Raavan Leela in Chennai (then Madras), where they burnt effigies of Ram, Lakshman and Sita. This Raavan Leela was a political response to Indira Gandhi’s participation in a Ram Leela event.

Even Maniyammai, DMK leader and Periyar’s wife, wrote in a letter to the former prime minister, “Your participation in the Ram Leela, burning the effigy of the great Dravidian hero Ravanan, is against all canons of secularism and highly provoking and insulting to millions of Dravidians. Hence, I request you to desist from this dastardly act.” In her response, Indira Gandhi emphasised the importance of the Ramayana and asked them to refrain from “politicising” the celebration.

Almost 50 years later, when her grandson was referred to as ‘Raavan’, the entire Congress machinery protested, calling it “downright dangerous and obnoxious”. Within two months, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge found himself in another Raavan-induced controversy when he asked whether PM Modi has “100 heads like Raavan”. Although he made the comment to highlight the PM’s overwhelming presence in every election campaign—from municipality to Lok Sabha elections—the BJP interpreted it differently and criticised him for personally attacking Modi.

On the one hand, Raavan has traditionally been viewed as a ‘demonic’ figure by major political parties largely run by Savarna politicians. On the other hand, Dalits and Adivasis have embraced the ‘Raavan’ identity as a political assertion that has the potential to counter the ‘Kamandal’ politics centred around Ram. UP-based Dalit leader Chandra­shekhar Azad, who began his political journey by criticising Mayawati for failing to represent the Dalit cause, adopted Raavan as his moniker. Similarly, Adivasi leader Deviram Bhalavi of the Gondwana Gantantra Party removed ‘Ram’ from his middle name, replacing it with ‘Raavan’ to illustrate the ancient connection between the Gond Adivasis and their king.

The evocation of Raavan by marginalised communities, however, clashes with the Ram-centric political narratives of prominent north Indian politicians. Recently, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) drew inspiration from the Ramayana when Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister after his release on bail. Upon taking over the CM’s chair, Atishi left a seat adjacent to hers vacant, stating that it was reserved for the exiled Ram while she governed. This act echoes the story of how Bharat, the prince of Ayodhya, placed Ram’s slippers on his throne during his 14-year exile.

Former deputy CM of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, also invoked the bond Ram and Lakshman shared, noting that unlike Laksh­man, he was not even allowed to share the same cell with Kejriwal during their time in jail. This can be coupled with PM Modi’s frequent references to Ram Rajya to illustrate how the imagery of Ram shapes Indian political thought.

Will the competing images of Ram and Raavan influence the political future? As Bhalavi puts it, “When Ram is invoked to justify violence, our ancestor Raavan’s position will be strengthened.”