The Congress is gearing up to confront the BJP on religion and nationalism ahead of the critical elections in Uttar Pradesh and then Gujarat as it expects the ruling party to milk these emotive issues to hide governance failures.

The unusual prominence given to the Taliban in the political discourse of Uttar Pradesh, assiduously aided by the electronic media and the RSS-BJP’s WhatsApp network, is being viewed as a precursor to the full-fledged Hindutva agenda being unveiled in the coming months.

Congress leaders believe the BJP is tapping into the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan to polarise voters along communal lines and call for a Hindu consolidation.

Senior leaders are saying in private conversations that Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu must have been driven by concerns over the BJP’s ability to portray itself as the sole protector of Hinduism and unleash the propaganda that the Congress is anti-Hindu.

Although this was not Rahul’s first visit to the important Hindu shrine, the timing appeared linked to the upcoming political battles. That the visit was not just about personal faith got forcefully manifested through the extraordinary projection of the event by the Congress on social media.

Addressing a public rally in Jammu after his pilgrimage, Rahul himself used new metaphors to explain the nature of the political crisis.

“There is a trinity of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati at Vaishno Devi. These three powers protect and make the country flourish. Durga is the power that protects, Lakshmi helps one fulfil objectives and Saraswati gives knowledge,” he said.

The Congress leader went on to ask whether demonetisation had enhanced or diminished the power that Lakshmi symbolises and whether knowledge, the power of Saraswati, is bolstered when the government packs universities with RSS activists.

While this new language of communication may rile those overtly secular, party workers believe the most urgent task is to dilute the perception of the Congress being anti-Hindu and the BJP being a Hindu party.

A Congress MP said: “The BJP will have nothing left to say if we blunt their Hindutva push. Once we are on a par, they will have to explain the failures on the economy, jobs, Chinese intrusion and the corona mismanagement. Rahul always goes to temples but we still have to do a lot to demolish the perception that the BJP protects Hindu interests.

“We will have to establish that the BJP uses Hinduism to spread hatred against Muslims while our objective is to unite people, to strengthen the constitutional principles of equality and justice.”

Senior leader Digvijaya Singh, who has always dealt with the issue of religion boldly, said at a conference a couple of days ago: “We oppose the RSS because they create religious frenzy to divide the society. We know unity and harmony are essential for progress. They whip up passions through false propaganda about Hinduism being under threat and exploit the Hindu sentiment for vote.”

Congress general secretary Tariq Anwar also believes the BJP has filed a case against him in Patna for endorsing lyricist Javed Akhtar’s comparison of the RSS with the Taliban only because they want to prevent any debate on core issues and take political advantage by misleading people.

“Javed Akhtar has said there are similarities between the ideology of the RSS and the Taliban. Anybody can see the similarities in mindset. The Taliban want an Islamic state and the RSS wants a Hindu rashtra. We always opposed the RSS concept of nationalism because it is based on religious discrimination while Congress nationalism is based on constitutional principles,” Anwar told The Telegraph.

He added: “They think I will be scared of their legal threat. I come from a family of freedom fighters. I will fight the RSS and their Talibani mindset because we believe in the Gandhian philosophy of truth and non-violence. They tried this intimidating tactic against our leader Rahul also. But the Congress is opposed to the RSS worldview and we will always remain so.”

Digvijaya supported Anwar’s line through a series of tweets, arguing that the Taliban’s outlook towards women was similar to the RSS’s. Recalling RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment that “women should be housewives, men should be breadwinners”, Digvijaya said: “Do the Taliban and the RSS have a similarity of views on working women? Looks like it, unless Mohan Bhagwatji and the Taliban change their views.”

The Congress veteran also quoted Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who had been reported as saying that women were incapable of being left free or independent. “The Taliban say women can’t be made ministers. Isn’t there a congruence of views?” Digvijaya said.