India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conceded defeat on Tuesday in a constituency where Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand Hindu temple just months ago, an event intended to solidify his legacy and secure the party’s victory.
The BJP appears headed for substantial losses in the key northern state of Uttar Pradesh, as the opposition Samajwadi Party and Congress surge ahead in over half of its 80 seats, including Ayodhya city in the Faizabad constituency, where Modi inaugurated the temple in January.
The opening of the temple dedicated to the god-king Lord Ram, on a site previously contested by India’s minority Muslims, fulfilled a decades-old BJP promise frequently highlighted in campaign rallies during the extensive two-month voting period in the Hindu-majority country.
“I could not protect your and Ayodhya’s dignity; there must have been some shortcoming in me,” said Lallu Singh, the BJP’s incumbent lawmaker from Faizabad, according to footage shared by the Indian Express daily. “There must have been some reason that we couldn’t win in the Ayodhya parliamentary region.”
The Faizabad constituency had elected Singh twice to parliament, in 2014 and 2019, during which Modi’s party secured 71 and 62 seats respectively in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.
Latest trends from the Election Commission indicated the BJP’s tally reduced to 33 seats in the state, with analysts pointing to unemployment and high inflation as key voter concerns overshadowing religious issues.
“We are very happy with the temple, but people were fed up with the BJP,” said Rakesh Yadav, the chairperson of the Ayodhya Vyapar Mandal, a traders’ body. He noted anger among small business owners over inadequate compensation when their shops were demolished during Ayodhya’s redevelopment ahead of the temple inauguration.
“People will not always fall for caste or temple-mosque politics. They also want to see development, which is why the results may surprise us all,” he added.
The Ram temple was constructed following a Supreme Court order after a protracted, violent dispute. In 1992, a Hindu crowd demolished a 16th-century mosque that stood on the site, claiming it was built on the birthplace of the god-king.
