Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday challenged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to contest the upcoming assembly elections from Ayodhya, claiming the BJP is struggling to finalise a candidate and is trailing in successive surveys.
He reiterated the party’s commitment to providing ₹ 40,000 annually to women, similar to the earlier Samajwadi pension scheme, and said every effort would be made to elevate Ayodhya’s identity to the global stage. Because the Samajwadi Party’s hands are stained with the blood of kar sevaks, meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Agra on Thursday, deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak questioned Akhilesh’s Ayodhya visit, saying, “Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will not go for darshan of Ram Lalla even after going to Ayodhya Dham,. Because of casteism and Muslim appeasement, they are in politics only.
“Ever since we declared our candidate in Ayodhya, the BJP has been conducting survey after survey. In every survey, the BJP is lagging behind. We hear they are unable to find a new candidate for Ayodhya. They are staunch opponents of Sanatan culture. These are parties based only on Muslim appeasement. Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad, whose parliamentary constituency Faizabad includes Ayodhya, welcomed Yadav on behalf of the district’s residents.
Speaking at a Bhagwat Katha event at the residence of the SP’s Ayodhya candidate Tej Narayan alias Pawan Pandey, Akhilesh Yadav said the party’s early announcement of its nominee has unsettled the BJP. If the chief minister who makes tall claims is so confident, he should contest from Ayodhya himself,” he said. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister further said those who claimed to separate “milk from water” would see the people reject them completely. Promising development if the SP comes to power, Yadav said his government would accelerate Ayodhya’s progress without discrimination and ensure that the benefits primarily reach local residents rather than outsiders. When asked whether the SP chief would visit the Ram Temple, Prasad said a grand temple is being built in Yadav’s home district and that the party president would visit with his family after the pran pratishtha ceremony. Reacting to the visit, Union minister Chirag Paswan said faith is a personal matter that should not be politicised.
