How Rajiv Gandhi's Support for 'Ramayan' Reshaped Indian Politics
· India · Indian Express, India Today
The Congress government led by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi facilitated the 1987 telecast of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan on Doordarshan, which became a significant cultural and political phenomenon. While the show cemented the popularity of actor Arun Govil, who played Rama, it also arrived during a period of rising communal fervour that altered the country's political landscape. The series is often cited as a catalyst that influenced religious identity and impacted the electoral fortunes of India's major national parties. Ramanand Sagar, who moved to Mumbai after Partition, had long envisioned the project as his life's mission to bring the story of Rama to a mass audience. The show's success on television eventually contributed to shifting political dynamics that saw the incumbent government lose power in subsequent elections.
Why it matters
The 1987 telecast of Ramayan remains a landmark case study in how mass media can influence national religious identity and trigger shifts in political power.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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