Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav take potshots: 'BJP lost Ayodhya because...'
The poll pundits predicted an easy win for the BJP in the seat because of the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in January.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who is being credited for his party's unexpected success in Uttar Pradesh, reacted to the BJP's shocking loss in Faizabad (Ayodhya).
The poll pundits predicted an easy win for the BJP in the seat because of the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in January. However, in a stunning upset, Yadav's party prevailed over the BJP.
"The truth is that the BJP would have lost even more seats in Uttar Pradesh. I thank the people of Ayodhya. You would have seen the pain of Ayodhya from time to time. They were not given adequate compensation for their land, injustice was done to them, their land was not acquired at par with the market price, you snatched their land forcibly by slapping false cases against them...you destroyed the poor for a sacred thing. That is why, I think people of Ayodhya and neighbouring areas voted against the BJP," he said.
Meanwhile, Awadhesh Prasad Singh, the newly elected Samajwadi Party MP, said the BJP lost because it destroyed the dignity of Lord Ram.
"Bharatiya Janata Party did politics in the name of Ayodhya. BJP has destroyed the dignity of 'Maryada Purshottam Ram'. There is inflation, there are no jobs in their (BJP's) rule. They have disrespected our jawans, farmers," he told PTI.
Awadhesh Prasad defeated the BJP's two-time MP Lallu Singh by a handsome margin of 54,567 votes.
The Samajwadi Party emerged as the single largest party in Uttar Pradesh, which was considered the BJP's bastion before the general election results came out. The BJP, which scored landslide victories in the state in 2014 and 2019, could win just 33 of 80 seats.
Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav's uncle Shivpal Yadav said the Ram temple poll pitch didn't work for the BJP.
"If elections are held in Uttar Pradesh today, a government under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav will be formed... The people have chosen the biggest devotee of Lord Ram with a record number of votes," he said.
With inputs from ANI, PTI