AYODHYA/FAIZABAD: At the heart of BJP’s push for a third straight term at the Centre is the newly inaugurated Ram temple in Ayodhya. No wonder then that the party is confident that it’s candidate here, two-time sitting MP Lallu Singh (69), will romp home by a record margin this time. But as with elections in general, nothing is a given until the results are in.
“The Ram temple is certainly a big boost for local businessmen and traders. Opportunities have opened up and everyone is looking to expand operations to cash in on the surge in the number of pilgrims and tourists. BJP deserves credit for fulfilling the expectations of crores of Hindus. But some issues have cropped up for the local population that need to be addressed by elected representatives,” said Sharad Kapoor, director of one of Ayodhya’s oldest hotels, Shan-E-Awadh.
Development, it’s said, can be a double-edged sword. So, while there are upbeat voices all around, there is also a sense of insecurity among voters in rural pockets. Families in Bikapur, Milkipur, Rudauli and localities on the other side of Lucknow-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur national highway fear they will be forced out from the land of Ram in the years to come.
A Tale Of Two Flanks
Driving down from Lucknow, the Ram temple, Hanuman Garhi, Saryu Ghat, district headquarters, malls, shopping complexes and arcades are situated to the left of the national highway while the right flank is predominantly rural with agriculture being the primary occupation. The Yogi govt renamed Faizabad district as Ayodhya in Nov 2018, but it is still Faizabad in ECI records. “We are still debating among ourselves what’s better for us: the old Faizabad or the new Ayodhya,” said 43-year-old Amar Singh of Ramdatpur Atrawan, a village on the right flank of the national highway.
Rakesh Kumar Pandey, who stays in the neighbouring Achari Sagra village, said, “We’ve been living here for generations. The local development authority has earmarked our ancestral farmland for acquisition to pave the way for an ‘aerocity’. We will soon be driven out and have no option but to move out of Ayodhya.”
Six villages have to be acquired for the 150-acre Aerocity. In return, land owners are being offered four times the circle rate. But ahead of elections, the 12,000-15,000 individuals who would be affected by the project are looking to their local representatives to intervene on their behalf.
Amar and Rakesh said they’ll get up to Rs 1.5 lakh as compensation from the govt for 1,000 sq.ft of agricultural land. “But the market rate for 1,000 sq.ft is in the range of Rs 4-5 lakh. Land prices across Ayodhya and neighbouring districts have soared beyond imagination. The local administration has barred new land transactions within the notified area. We will have to cease farming and shift to some other district,” the duo said.
In the Khewli gram sabha area in the Bikapur assembly segment, 72-year-old Madhusudan Pandey said that, unlike in 2019, he will not be swayed by his fellow villagers. “Both my sons are physically challenged.
Except for ration, we are not getting the benefits of any other govt scheme. If you are underprivileged, your caste does not matter,” said Pandey.
No Pushover
SP veteran Awadhesh Prasad was the only opposition leader who managed to overcome the Yogi-Modi ‘doubleengine’ wave in 2022 UP state polls and win from Milkipur, one of the five assembly segments of Faizabad LS seat. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav rewarded the former minister and nine-time MLA — one of the founding members of SP — with an LS ticket, pitting the SC leader from Pasi community against Lallu Singh, a Thakur.
Congress, SP and BSP have all tasted success in Faizabad in the six polls since 1998. BJP’s victory margin was more than 2 lakh in 2014, but that came down to about 65,000 in 2019, when SP and BSP fought together.
With few placing bets on BSP this time, Lallu Singh will be eyeing an increase in his vote share.
But the crowds, especially of youths and those other than Yadavs and Muslims, at Akhilesh’s rally in Mawai last week may have rung the warning bells for BJP. Besides inflation, unemployment, poor infrastructure and the “threat-to-the-Constitution” pitch of the Opposition, delays in holding of competitive exams and recruitment drives due to ‘paper leaks’ are a key issue in the rural belt of Ayodhya. “No age relaxation is being offered to those who lost a year due to paper leaks. Their parents, too, have to bear an additional financial burden,” says Shiv Narayan Vishwakarma of Gulchappa Khurd in Rudauli.
SP’s Prasad though faces significant hurdles. “Prasad is strong in Milkipur, Bikapur, Rudauli and also in SP leader Arvind Singh Gope’s home turf (Dariyabad assembly seat in Barabanki). However, Arvind Sen, a Milkipur resident and son of strongman Mitrasen Yadav, is the CPI candidate this time. I feel some Yadav votes will split and dent Prasad’s prospects. But he could consolidate Pasi votes. In 2019, Pasis had voted en masse for BJP,” said Ashok Kumar of Jamuniyamau village in Rudauli.
Vijay Kumar Chaubey, owner of multiple homestays in Ayodhya’s Niyawan, says “it’ll reflect poorly on Hindus if BJP were to lose Ayodhya”. “Whatever their grievances, people will not let that happen on May 20.”
“The Ram temple is certainly a big boost for local businessmen and traders. Opportunities have opened up and everyone is looking to expand operations to cash in on the surge in the number of pilgrims and tourists. BJP deserves credit for fulfilling the expectations of crores of Hindus. But some issues have cropped up for the local population that need to be addressed by elected representatives,” said Sharad Kapoor, director of one of Ayodhya’s oldest hotels, Shan-E-Awadh.
Development, it’s said, can be a double-edged sword. So, while there are upbeat voices all around, there is also a sense of insecurity among voters in rural pockets. Families in Bikapur, Milkipur, Rudauli and localities on the other side of Lucknow-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur national highway fear they will be forced out from the land of Ram in the years to come.
A Tale Of Two Flanks
Driving down from Lucknow, the Ram temple, Hanuman Garhi, Saryu Ghat, district headquarters, malls, shopping complexes and arcades are situated to the left of the national highway while the right flank is predominantly rural with agriculture being the primary occupation. The Yogi govt renamed Faizabad district as Ayodhya in Nov 2018, but it is still Faizabad in ECI records. “We are still debating among ourselves what’s better for us: the old Faizabad or the new Ayodhya,” said 43-year-old Amar Singh of Ramdatpur Atrawan, a village on the right flank of the national highway.
Rakesh Kumar Pandey, who stays in the neighbouring Achari Sagra village, said, “We’ve been living here for generations. The local development authority has earmarked our ancestral farmland for acquisition to pave the way for an ‘aerocity’. We will soon be driven out and have no option but to move out of Ayodhya.”
Six villages have to be acquired for the 150-acre Aerocity. In return, land owners are being offered four times the circle rate. But ahead of elections, the 12,000-15,000 individuals who would be affected by the project are looking to their local representatives to intervene on their behalf.
Amar and Rakesh said they’ll get up to Rs 1.5 lakh as compensation from the govt for 1,000 sq.ft of agricultural land. “But the market rate for 1,000 sq.ft is in the range of Rs 4-5 lakh. Land prices across Ayodhya and neighbouring districts have soared beyond imagination. The local administration has barred new land transactions within the notified area. We will have to cease farming and shift to some other district,” the duo said.
In the Khewli gram sabha area in the Bikapur assembly segment, 72-year-old Madhusudan Pandey said that, unlike in 2019, he will not be swayed by his fellow villagers. “Both my sons are physically challenged.
Except for ration, we are not getting the benefits of any other govt scheme. If you are underprivileged, your caste does not matter,” said Pandey.
No Pushover
SP veteran Awadhesh Prasad was the only opposition leader who managed to overcome the Yogi-Modi ‘doubleengine’ wave in 2022 UP state polls and win from Milkipur, one of the five assembly segments of Faizabad LS seat. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav rewarded the former minister and nine-time MLA — one of the founding members of SP — with an LS ticket, pitting the SC leader from Pasi community against Lallu Singh, a Thakur.
Congress, SP and BSP have all tasted success in Faizabad in the six polls since 1998. BJP’s victory margin was more than 2 lakh in 2014, but that came down to about 65,000 in 2019, when SP and BSP fought together.
With few placing bets on BSP this time, Lallu Singh will be eyeing an increase in his vote share.
But the crowds, especially of youths and those other than Yadavs and Muslims, at Akhilesh’s rally in Mawai last week may have rung the warning bells for BJP. Besides inflation, unemployment, poor infrastructure and the “threat-to-the-Constitution” pitch of the Opposition, delays in holding of competitive exams and recruitment drives due to ‘paper leaks’ are a key issue in the rural belt of Ayodhya. “No age relaxation is being offered to those who lost a year due to paper leaks. Their parents, too, have to bear an additional financial burden,” says Shiv Narayan Vishwakarma of Gulchappa Khurd in Rudauli.
SP’s Prasad though faces significant hurdles. “Prasad is strong in Milkipur, Bikapur, Rudauli and also in SP leader Arvind Singh Gope’s home turf (Dariyabad assembly seat in Barabanki). However, Arvind Sen, a Milkipur resident and son of strongman Mitrasen Yadav, is the CPI candidate this time. I feel some Yadav votes will split and dent Prasad’s prospects. But he could consolidate Pasi votes. In 2019, Pasis had voted en masse for BJP,” said Ashok Kumar of Jamuniyamau village in Rudauli.
Vijay Kumar Chaubey, owner of multiple homestays in Ayodhya’s Niyawan, says “it’ll reflect poorly on Hindus if BJP were to lose Ayodhya”. “Whatever their grievances, people will not let that happen on May 20.”