Akhilesh plans Ram temple visit in December; Yogi says apologise to Ram bhakts first

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav will visit the Ram temple in Ayodhya in December, The Indian Express reported on 7 November. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath responded that Mr. Yadav should first apologise to Ram bhakts, the devotees of Lord Ram.

Mr. Yadav announced last month that he would soon visit the temple for darshan with SP leaders, and dared Mr. Adityanath to contest the coming Assembly election from Ayodhya. The Chief Minister has since mocked him repeatedly, saying he would soon be seen chanting Lord Ram’s name and repenting, and advising him to visit Ram Lalla because he “may gain wisdom”.

The background

The jibe about an apology refers to the past. BJP leaders often recall the police firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya in 1990, when Mr. Yadav’s father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, was Chief Minister. The SP says the BJP uses the temple for politics.

Mr. Yadav did not attend the consecration of the temple in January 2024, and when the Speaker invited legislators to visit it in February that year, he declined, saying he would go when Lord Ram called him. Months later, the SP won the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, which includes Ayodhya, a result widely seen as a setback for the BJP.

Why it matters

Uttar Pradesh votes in early 2027. A visit by Mr. Yadav would signal that the SP no longer wants to leave the temple, and the Hindu voters it draws, to the BJP alone. The BJP’s demand for an apology is meant to make the visit look like a climbdown.