One may call it a mere coincidence but it remains a fact that during the past three decades Ayodhya, the land of Lord Rama, had been involved in changing the course of politics in Uttar Pradesh whether directly or indirectly.
The sacred land provided ‘political energy’ to parties like the BJP, the Samajwadi Party and the BSP and they also used it as a ladder to capture power in this politically crucial state from time to time.
In the 80s, Ayodhya had become the focus of attention following the Ram temple movement and it was the same movement, which catapulted the BJP to power after the 1991 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. The entire ‘Awadh’ region had witnessed a saffron wave then.
The SP also gained tremendously from the ‘Mandir-Masjid’ controversy. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav came to be known as ‘Maulana Mulayam’ following his action on the ‘Karsevaks’ in Ayodhya during his regime.
Muslims, who were till then with the Congress, shifted their loyalty to Mulayam and the SP became a force to reckon with in the state. Polarisation on the temple issue paved the way for the party to capture power in the state later.
BSP supremo Mayawati, also, for the first time tested her ‘social engineering’ formula in Ambedkar Nagar, very close to Ayodhya. It was the same formula, which later ensured Mayawati’s anointment as chief minister of the state with an absolute majority in 2007 Assembly polls.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the region has once again scripted a change and this time the gainer is the Congress, which literally swept the ‘Awadh’ region by bagging as many as seven seats.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress could win only the Amethi seat and the rest were divided among BSP, SP and BJP. But this time barring Ambedkar Nagar and Kaiserganj, the Congress emerged victorious in all the seven seats, including Faizabad.
The return of the Cong
The Congress victory at Faizabad comes after a gap of 25 years. Its nominee Nirmal Khatri had last won from Faizabad in 1984 riding the sympathy wave following Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
According to political analysts, the Congress victory in Faizabad and nearby areas is very significant as it indicates the coming together of Muslims, Brahmins and Dalits on one platform to support the party, something which was unthinkable in a state, where caste equations have always played a crucial role in electoral politics.
“The Congress victory is an indication that Ram temple is not an issue any longer for even the people of Ayodhya and Faizabad,” says Anjani Sinha, a local scribe.
Ayodhya houses the VHP headquarters and also the native place of Ram Janambhoomi Trust president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das. “Hardly a few saints attend VHP programmes in the town,” said another scribe.
Sinha says that the people of the area have realised that the Mandir-Masjid issue was being used by the politicians to gain political mileage and in the process the real issues were being buried under the carpet.
“Both Hindus and Muslims want an amicable solution to the issue. The matter is in the court and its decision will be binding on the concerned parties,” said Nirmal Khatri, the victorious Congress candidate.
“The message is loud and clear. People have rejected communal and caste based politics and preferred development,” he said.
The result also indicated weakening of the caste equations that prevailed in the region in the earlier polls and exploited to the hilt by the political outfits.
“After a long time the people did not vote along caste and religious lines and instead opted for development,” Sinha says.
It appears that the land of Lord Rama has signalled an imminent change in the UP politics in the days to come.
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