At about 5.00 p.m. on Sunday, February 23, visitors to the Dharam Sansad at Delhi's Ramlila Grounds faced a dharam sankat (great dilemma). Pravin Togadia, general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-the convener as it were of the Dharam Sansad-was addressing the press, holding forth against the enemies of Hinduism, warning there would be "an Ayodhya in every village".

CLOSING IN: At the Dharam Sansad, the temple was taken for granted

Just a few metres away, Sadhvi Rithambara, La Pasionaria of the saffron crowd, was working the 10,000-strong assortment of sadhus and sants, acharyas and mahants. "Aap kauon ko hans bana sakte hain (You have the power to change crows into swans)," she said, exhorting them to push the fence sitters to the forefront of the Hindutva battle. The dig at the BJP leadership was obvious.

Between the parallel attractions of Togadia and Rithambara, the VHP fan club probably encountered a confusion. Yet, despite the embarrassment of rhetorical riches, the Dharam Sansad of February 22 and 23 was a fairly relaxed affair. There were the ritualistic slogans. There was Togadia echoing George Bush's credo: "Joh Ram ke saath nahin hai, woh Babar ki aulaad hai (If you're not with Ram, you're with Babar)." There was even a resolution demanding India be renamed Hindustan.

Nevertheless, attacks on the BJP and on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee fell far short of expectations. Even when the "siege of Parliament" was announced for February 24, it came with the assurance of non-violence, a Hindutva version of civil disobedience.

THE TIME IS NOW: Togadia (left) and Singhal feel the BJP is inclined to help them on Ayodhya

Was there a method to this tepidness? The buzz at the Ramlila Grounds, from VHP President Ashok Singhal downwards, was, "This is the last Dharam Sansad on the Ayodhya issue." The implication was that when the 11th Dharam Sansad meets in early 2005, the temple will be well and truly on its way.

There are two distinct reasons for the VHP's optimism. The first relates to the "disputed site", the 60 ft by 40 ft area in Ayodhya that is India's most contentious piece of property. The second relates to the "undisputed area", the surrounding 67 acres that were acquired by the government in 1994.

The Union Government has asked the Supreme Court to define if religious activity is permitted on this land and if, by logical extension, a part of it can be reverted to the VHP (see "In God We Trust", India Today, February 17). The court is to hear the matter on March 6. The VHP appears to have convinced itself that the five-member bench will rule favourably.

Part of the reason is political. The BJP-led Government has approached the court for speedy clarification of the status of the undisputed land. In the parliamentary debate on February 27, it stoutly defended its petition and didn't shy away from the Ayodhya issue. To the VHP, this suggests the BJP is ready to mollify its core constituency as "Atalji wants to encash the Hindu vote nationally". Whatever the motivations, the VHP-BJP convergence cannot be discounted.

VHP'S TRIDENT

UNDISPUTED LAND: With the Government pleading its case, hopes court will allow transfer of part of undisputed Ayodhya land to VHP trust. If so, temple construction will begin at once.

DISPUTED SITE: Feels radar report nullifies argument that, in 1528, Babri Masjid was built on empty ground.

MINI-AYODHYAS: Faces grassroots pressure to "reclaim" Hindu shrines.

Coming to the disputed site, the title suit for which is being heard by the Allahabad High Court, a report by a Canadian survey team has come in handy. Commissioned by the high court in December 2002, the survey used radar imagery to ascertain whether an earlier structure lay buried below the site of the Babri Masjid. It apparently found "pillars, walls, a floor and broken walls below the floor, indicating multiple layers of construction".

It is understood that the report-the court has decreed it be kept a secret by the 26 contesting parties, all of which have received copies-does not date the structure nor indicates whether it was a temple or a palace or hall. Nevertheless, the VHP smells its chance. The report seems to establish the Babri Masjid was not built on terra nullius, empty land.

Other than law and history, the VHP is mighty chuffed by the political mood. It senses aggressive Hindutva has more takers than ever before. The dispute over the Bhojshala shrine in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, is a case in point. "A short agitation," points out a VHP functionary, "and Hindu access went up from once a year to once a week. It will soon be once a day." In contrast to the tortured Ayodhya debates, there "have been no articles about whether King Bhoja (believed to have consecrated the Bhojshala temple) existed. Or whether he was secular".

There is enormous pressure on the VHP to repeat the "Bhojshala experiment" and carry revanchist Hindutva to other monuments. In Ahmedabad, the devout insist the Jama Masjid was once the site of a Kali temple. In Asind, Bhilwara, the Gujjars want their temple back. In Delhi, the temple complex around the Qutub Minar has seen controversy.

What the VHP may be most eager to lend its name to is the fledgling demand that Hindus be allowed the right to worship in the Shiv temple that apparently predates and exists within the Ajmer Sharif complex in Rajasthan. "If we don't get relief on Ayodhya by the end of March," warns a Parishad leader, "Ajmer could be taken up." Rajasthan, of course, goes to the polls later this year. The VHP wants to set a truculent agenda the BJP would be compelled to follow.

You could call it the Gujarat effect.