'People Are Maligning Ayodhya Out Of Fear': UP CM Yogi Adityanath targets SP, Congress

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday accused the Samajwadi Party and Congress of trying to discredit Ayodhya, alleging that the opposition parties were "uncomfortable" with the temple town’s development and infrastructure projects across the state.

Speaking at a Diwali programme in Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath said the political fortunes of both parties would suffer if the state’s “journey of heritage and development” continued.

“People are now maligning Ayodhya out of fear. They are spreading propaganda against Ayodhya because they know that if this journey of heritage and development continues in the same manner, the politics of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress will be buried forever,” he said, PTI reported.

He added that parties which had once created an identity crisis for Uttar Pradesh would themselves face a political identity crisis.

Yogi’s Remarks Follow Akhilesh Yadav’s Visit Plan

The chief minister’s comments came a day after he criticised, without naming him, SP president Akhilesh Yadav over his proposed visit to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

SP leader Pawan Pandey said Yadav and his family would visit the temple on December 12 to offer prayers. It would be the SP chief’s first visit to the temple since its inauguration in January 2024.

At an event in Ayodhya on Saturday, Adityanath said those who had neglected the city and insulted its residents should first apologise to Ram devotees and saints.

“Those who had neglected and insulted (Ayodhya), who had opened fire on Ram devotees and subjected saints to lathi-charge, should certainly come to Ayodhya, but only after apologising,” he said.

1990 Firing Cited In Political Exchange

Adityanath’s remarks referred to the 1990 police firing on kar sevaks marching towards the Babri Mosque, which stood at the disputed site in Ayodhya. Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav’s father, was Uttar Pradesh chief minister at the time.

“There was a time when even uttering the name of Shri Ram in Ayodhya invited lathis and bullets,” Adityanath said, adding that the city had been neglected.

The Babri Mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992. In November 2019, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled in favour of constructing the Ram Temple at the site.