BJP targets Akhilesh Yadav over planned Ayodhya visit, calls it election-driven political move

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday criticised Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, Akhilesh Yadav, over his proposed visit to Ayodhya, alleging that the move was driven by electoral considerations and accusing him of doing "opportunistic politics" in the name of Sanatan Dharma.

Yadav is scheduled to visit Ayodhya on December 12 along with his wife, Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav, and other family members. During the visit, he is expected to offer prayers at the Hanumangarhi temple and visit the Ram Mandir to seek the blessings of Lord Ram Lalla. This will be his first visit to the temple since its consecration in January 2024.

The visit was confirmed by SP leader and former Ayodhya MLA Pawan Pandey.

Reacting to the development, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister, Brajesh Pathak, while speaking to reporters, alleged that the SP chief's visit was an attempt to project support for Hindu traditions ahead of the upcoming elections.

"They will never truly embrace Sanatan Dharma. They are merely putting on a show of supporting Sanatan culture and Hindus to secure votes in the upcoming elections. They are deeply opposed to Sanatan Dharma and Hindus. They have nothing to do with their welfare and only engage in politics based on appeasement and vote-bank consolidation. They have no plans for the welfare of the common people and rely solely on caste-based politics and appeasement," Pathak alleged.

Uttar Pradesh Minister, Daya Shankar Singh, also questioned the timing of Akhilesh Yadav's proposed temple visit, alleging that the SP chief had stayed away from the temple earlier due to concerns about losing the support of a particular community.

Speaking to IANS, Singh said, "They wanted to secure the votes of a particular community. Even today, they are driven by the same fear, which is why they have not gone for darshan till now. They fear that visiting the temple might cause them to lose their vote bank. Today, they claim to be descendants of Lord Krishna."

He further urged Yadav to seek forgiveness from Lord Ram over the firing on devotees during the tenure of the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"I would urge them to go and seek the blessings of Lord Shri Ram. As an act of atonement, they should apologise to Lord Shri Ram for the incident in which your party's leader and the then Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, ordered firing on Ram devotees. Seek forgiveness for that act. God forgives everyone," Singh added.

BJP MP Ravi Kishan, reacting to the proposed visit, suggested that Yadav should be accompanied by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi while visiting the temple.

Speaking to IANS, Kishan said, "He should take his elder brother Rahul Gandhi, along as well. He should bow his head at the feet of Lord Shri Ram."

Meanwhile, BJP National Spokesperson, Tuhin Sinha, compared Akhilesh Yadav's proposed visit to the Ram Temple with Rahul Gandhi's visits to religious places, describing both leaders as "political Hindus".

Speaking to IANS, Sinha claimed, "Like Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav is a political Hindu. For the past three years, he did not find time to visit the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He was invited to the consecration ceremony but did not attend. Later, when the temple's construction was completed, he was also invited to a ceremony held last November, but he did not attend that either."

"Now, suddenly, ahead of the elections, he has remembered the temple and is visiting it, just like Rahul Gandhi. It is good that he is going, but this is opportunism. This opportunistic mindset has become the identity of our Opposition today," he alleged.

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