Amid ‘Ram’ and ‘Samvidhan’ debate, more lowly concerns in Ayodhya

With the Ram Temple consecration featuring repeatedly in the BJP’s high-octane campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, under which Ayodhya falls, has become a prestige battle for the party even as the Opposition tries to turn the narrative from “Ram” to “Samvidhan (Constitution)”.

Locking horns in the high-profile seat, which goes to the polls in the fifth phase on May 20, are nine-time MLA Awadhesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party (SP), who is seen as the party’s Dalit face, and sitting BJP MP Lallu Singh, who is among the BJP leaders to have said that the party needed 400 seats to “change the Constitution”.

Singh’s campaign revolves around Narendra Modi. He tells people the Prime Minister fulfilled a 500-year-old dream with the consecration of the Ram Temple and will similarly bring Lord Krishna to Mathura now. His campaign songs too are aimed at reminding people how those who “fired upon Ram bhakts (a reference to the action by then SP government led by Mulayam Singh against temple kar sevaks in 1990)” are now trying to oppose Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The BJP, which is confident of victory, is also talking about “the drastic infrastructure improvement” in Ayodhya – railway station, roads and the upcoming Ayurveda Medical College. “Where is the contest?… There is no contest in Ayodhya. Who would have thought such a day would come. There are wider roads, better businesses and Ayodhya is on the global map, all thanks to Yogiji and Modiji,” Ayodhya Mayor Girish Pati Tripathi tells The Indian Express.

However, Lallu Singh’s remarks on the Constitution have given SP chief Akhilesh Yadav ammunition to target the BJP. “Roti, kapda, makan hai zaroori, lekin humare liye Samvidhan bachana bhi