Ahead Of UP Elections, Akhilesh Yadav To Visit Ayodhya Ram Temple With Family On Dec 12

Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is scheduled to visit the Ram Temple in Ayodhya with his family on December 12. This will be his first visit to the shrine since its consecration in January 2024.

Tej Narayan Pandey, popularly known as Pawan Pandey, confirmed the plan, according to a report by Hindustan Times. Pandey told the publication, "The SP national president Akhilesh Ji along with his family will first visit Hanumangarhi and then the Ram Temple. I will also be with them."

Yadav will be accompanied by his wife, Dimple Yadav, and their children. The family is scheduled to visit Hanumangarhi Temple before proceeding to the Ram Temple for darshan of Ram Lalla.

Akhilesh Yadav's Ayodhya Visit Plan

The visit comes nearly three years after the consecration of the Ram Temple and ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

In October, Yadav visited Ayodhya to attend a Shrimad Bhagwat Katha event organised by Pawan Pandey. During the visit, he said he would decide on an auspicious date for visiting the Ram Temple after the completion of the Kedareshwar Mahadev temple being constructed in Etawah's Saifai. He had asked Pandey to finalise the date.

The Kedareshwar Mahadev temple project is in its final stages, with only minor finishing work remaining, according to the report.

Yadav had also announced Pawan Pandey as the Samajwadi Party's candidate from the Ayodhya Assembly constituency ahead of the 2027 polls. He has publicly challenged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to contest from the seat.

Political Significance Of The Visit

The proposed visit comes amid the Samajwadi Party's efforts to strengthen its political outreach ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

Yadav has made more visible visits to Hindu religious sites and engaged with religious leaders in recent months. These gestures are being viewed as part of an effort to expand the party's appeal beyond its PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) support base and counter the BJP's Hindutva politics.

The Samajwadi Party has frequently faced criticism from the BJP over its position on Ayodhya and the Ram Temple. The BJP has repeatedly invoked the 1990 police firing on kar sevaks during the tenure of then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav's father, to target the party.

With the next Assembly elections approaching, Ayodhya and the Ram Temple remain important political issues in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP has consistently highlighted the temple's construction and consecration as a significant achievement, while the opposition parties have sought to challenge its political narrative.