This was the time when bjp was emphasizing on the ram mandir campaign of vishwa Hindu Parishad. Besides, it was also supporting the government led by VP Singh. In the lok sabha elections held in 1989, 85 bjp MPs had won. In the year 1984 this number was only two. The aim of BJP's idea of making ram temple an election issue was to eliminate caste division and convert the large Hindu community into its vote bank. VP Singh's Mandal Commission move pitted caste against religion within the same community. Not only this, he announced from the red Fort on Independence Day that a public holiday would be celebrated on the birthday of Prophet Mohammad.
This also posed a challenge to BJP's Kamandal campaign. A month later, on 25 September, BJP's LK Advani started a rath yatra from somnath to ayodhya to respond to the anti-Mandal movement and new social justice leaders like Sharad Yadav, ram vilas paswan and Lalu prasad Yadav. VP Singh had made a deep dent in the Hindutva campaign.
bjp had given outside support to VP Singh to oust congress from power, but VP Singh released such a firestorm of casteism that even bjp got burnt. No leader could directly oppose this. In such a situation, Advani regained his composure and marched from somnath to Ayodhya. This was such a bet where politics and chess became one. Advani made such a move which was not a direct opposition to Mandal, but was enough to destroy the VP government. Same thing happened.
Ultimately, VP Singh was forced to order the then bihar CM Lalu prasad Yadav to arrest Advani. The Rath yatra was stopped in Samastipur on 23 October. With this, bjp withdrew support from the Center and the Janata Dal government fell. elections were held in 1991, and VP Singh faced a humiliating defeat.
