Image Source: Akhilesh Yadav/Facebook
In January 2024, Ram Lalla was consecrated in the Ram temple of Ayodhya, but Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the ceremony. Akhilesh Yadav had then said that after consecration he would go to Ram temple with his family. But such an opportunity has not come in the last three years.
During this time, BJP kept raising questions about his not going to Ram temple. Sometimes BJP linked it to Muslim vote bank politics, while sometimes Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party were accused of being anti-Sanatan.
Now, a few months before the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, it has been announced that Akhilesh Yadav will visit Ram temple with his family on 12th December. Akhilesh has also said in one of his statements that if his government comes in 2027, he will make Ayodhya the capital of Sanatan.
Not only this, Akhilesh is also getting 'Kedareshwar Mahadev Temple' constructed on the lines of Kedarnath Temple in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh. The inauguration of the temple is also proposed soon.
But amidst all these announcements, the announcement of visiting Ram temple in Ayodhya is important in many ways, because till now no official statement has come from Akhilesh Yadav regarding this.
Akhilesh's visit to Ram temple has been announced by the party's Ayodhya assembly seat candidate and former MLA Tej Narayan Pandey alias Pawan Pandey.
Talking to a private channel, he said, "Akhilesh Yadav will visit Hanumangarhi and Ram temple with his wife Dimple Yadav and other family members." During this period, there is also a program to meet saints and party workers.
Image source: akhilesh yadav/facebook
After this statement of Pawan Pandey, no senior leader of the party has till now spoken openly about this visit nor has rejected the news of the visit.
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During the press conference at his party office on Wednesday i.e. 11th November, when Akhilesh Yadav was asked whether he was really going to go to Ram Temple on 12th December? Without giving a direct answer, he said, "God belongs to everyone, he will go to Kedareshwar, he will also go to Mathura-Vrindavan." Have been going before also. Why won't you go? First will go to Kedareshwar, then will visit further also. PDA means first darshan, then blessings.
Without taking the name of Ram Temple, Akhilesh made it clear that the visit claimed by his party leader will happen but before that he will visit Kedareshwar Temple.
Now before this proposed visit of Akhilesh to Ayodhya, political statements have intensified. Not only BJP, but AIMIM, Vishwa Hindu Parishad are attacking Akhilesh Yadav.
'First apologize for December 6'
Image Source: pankaj chaudhary/facebook
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BJP state president Pankaj Choudhary has said that Akhilesh should go to Ram temple on 6 December instead of 12 December and apologize for the firing on kar sevaks in 1990."
He said, "If this is not a new political maneuver in the name of Lord Shri Ram, but a true repentance, then go to Ram temple on December 6, not 12." Apologize for the great sin of hundreds of Ram devotees who were murdered.
The BJP state president was referring to the anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992. He alleges that Samajwadi Party should answer for the incident of firing on kar sevaks during Mulayam Singh Yadav's government.
While talking to BBC, Vishwa Hindu Parishad's national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said, "Despite being in power for so many years, Akhilesh Yadav did not come to Ayodhya. Now what does he want to prove? Good people have been punished for treason. Be it Congress, Samajwadi Party or RJD, everyone has had to suffer its consequences. The reason for this has been his alleged Hindu and anti-Ram agenda.
On the other hand, Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the Muslim MPs and MLAs of SP as to how they can support Akhilesh Yadav's visit to Ayodhya.
He said, "Is Akhilesh Yadav's vote bank getting dispersed, that is why he is leaving? The question arises that what will all the Muslim MPs and MLAs of Samajwadi Party do now and what will they answer? Now you cannot speak the dialogue of Sholay that what will happen to you, but you can speak the couplet of Ghalib that 'With which mouth will you go to Kaaba Ghalib, but you do not feel ashamed'. You used to be a big messiah of Muslims, what happened now."
'We are not anti-Ram but anti-BJP'
Amidst these questions and political attacks, a senior Samajwadi Party leader, on the condition of anonymity, told BBC that Muslim voters have never expressed any objection to the party regarding visiting Ram Temple.
He said, “When Babri Masjid was demolished, Samajwadi Party played its role. But today when the court's decision has come and the temple has been built there, then what is the problem in going for darshan? I do not think that the suffering and troubled people of the state would want you to fight a religious battle and lose the political battle. Those who believe in secularism want BJP to be removed from power.
When asked why Akhilesh Yadav's visit was proposed for the next month, the SP leader said that the Speaker never said that he would not go to Ram Temple. He has always said that he will go when called. BJP had made the consecration ceremony of Ram temple a political event. That's why he did not attend the Prime Minister's program. ''
However, BJP alleges that this visit of Akhilesh Yadav is completely a part of the election strategy.
Political analysts are also seeing this tour in the context of 2027 assembly elections.
Image source: Getty Images
We spoke to senior journalist Suman Gupta, who covered the Ram Mandir movement closely and understands the politics of Ayodhya closely.
Suman Gupta said, "Akhilesh used to say earlier that he does not wear rings and does not believe in things like auspicious and inauspicious. But now he also talks about considering auspicious and inauspicious things and also about going to religious places. So this not only shows the change in his political strategy but also reveals his helplessness. Compulsion because BJP has made Ram Temple and Ram the center of its politics and has kept the opposition parties, especially Congress and Samajwadi Party, under the scanner of allegations of Muslim appeasement and anti-Hindu politics. In such a situation, Akhilesh Yadav faces the challenge of answering the allegations of his party being anti-Hindu."
SP's dilemma regarding Ayodhya is old
Akhilesh has said on many occasions that he will answer BJP in BJP's own language but will not tell his strategy. Now if we assume that Ayodhya visit is a part of his strategy, will it prove effective for him?
On this question, Suman Gupta says, "It is not easy to answer BJP in its own language on religious issues." While the Ram Mandir movement in Ayodhya had paved the way for BJP to come to power, for Samajwadi Party it became a topic on which the party can never play openly.
Gupta says that for this reason the Samajwadi Party has so far avoided facing this issue directly, but this time it has decided that it will ride the lion. Now if you control the lion, then he is under your control, otherwise he will eat you. Therefore for Akhilesh it is like walking on a double-edged sword.
Challenge of maintaining traditional social base
Image Source: Chandrashekhar/Facebook
A challenge for Akhilesh is also parties like AIMIM and Azad Samaj Party, which are preparing to contest the elections by forming an alliance or as a third front. She can accuse Akhilesh of doing temple and Hindutva politics like BJP and staying away from the questions of Muslim voters. In this way, they may have a base to try to break into the traditional Muslim and Dalit vote bank of the Samajwadi Party.
On these apprehensions, senior party leader and former Union Minister Salim Sherwani says, "Yes, AIMIM or BJP can make it an issue." They make any issue an issue. But now Muslims have to understand that only the alliance of Congress and Samajwadi Party can be helpful in removing BJP from power in Uttar Pradesh. Be it Owaisi's party or any other party, it always creates problems. She cannot form the government, cannot win over her MLAs, but can cut the votes of Congress candidates.
“We are constantly going among the people. I myself will go to different places and explain to Muslims that they should not waste their votes. They should vote in favor of India Alliance. Our first priority should be to remove BJP from power.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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