BJP Trails In UP Seat Where Ram Temple Is Located, Samajwadi Party Leads

Among the biggest talking points this election was the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a poll promise of the BJP since the 1980s. The party's supporters had been sure it would be a one of the decisive factors in the Lok Sabha elections.

The Samajwadi Party (SP), however, is leading in Faizabad, which comprises the Ayodhya assembly seat. Here, the SP's Awadhesh Prasad is leading by over 33,000 votes to his nearest rival from the BJP Lallu Singh.

Exit polls had forecast the BJP to win a bulk of the seats in Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha - the highest in the country.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress, however, are giving a tough contest. Former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's SP is leading in 33 seats, while the Congress is leading in 7. The BJP is leading in 37, which is a huge fall by 28 seats since the last election in 2019.

"The decline in the seats of the BJP is linked to three states, which are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In UP particularly the construction and inauguration of the Ram temple did not become a big issue. The social coalition made by Samajwadi Party and Congress seems to have made the difference as it was formidable," Lokniti national coordinator Sandeep Shastri told news agency Reuters.

Political analyst Surendra Kumar Diwedi said the trend very clearly shows that in a state like Uttar Pradesh, which has the Ram temple, the temple is not the only deciding factor anymore.

"Developmental issues especially, which are related to youths like rampant leaks of the competitive examination (services) and unemployment, had made an impact on the youths who were the largest chunk of voters," Mr Diwedi told Reuters.

Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav is leading with a huge margin of 1,40,966 votes against BJP candidate Jayveer Singh. Akhilesh Yadav himself is leading with a margin of 84,463 votes against BJP candidate Subrat Pathak.

With inputs from Reuters