The people of Ayodhya have shown how to rectify the “politics of temple,” according to NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar, who said on Tuesday that the town’s recent Lok Sabha elections saw the people of Ayodhya defeat the BJP candidate.
Speaking at a Baramati traders’ meeting, Pawar emphasized that although the BJP had won over 300 seats five years prior, its current total of 240 seats falls well short of a majority.
He stated, “The result demonstrates that their 60 seats were reduced, and Uttar Pradesh is a key state in this reduction as the people there gave a different kind of verdict.”
Though the people of our country are extremely wise, Pawar said he had expected that the Ram temple would be on the election agenda and that the ruling party would receive votes.
The seasoned politician claimed, “When they realized that votes were being sought in the temple’s name, they decided to take a different stand and the BJP had to face defeat.”
Recent elections witnessed a big upset when Samajwadi Party candidate Awadhesh Prasad defeated sitting BJP MP Lallu Singh by a margin of 54,567 votes in the Faizabad parliamentary constituency, which is home to the temple town of Ayodhya.
Important INDIA bloc member Pawar claimed that although the Opposition was worried about the temple being used as a political tool, the public had other ideas.
The former Union minister added, “We were afraid that the temple would be used as the election agenda to get votes, but the people of Ayodhya showed how to correct the ‘politics of temple’ (by defeating the BJP candidate).”
He asserted that democracy in India is intact, not because of politics but due to the “collective conscience” of the people.
“Over the past ten years, the people have forced individuals in positions of authority to back down from their radical positions. Though not entirely on his own, Narendra Modi did create the government with the assistance of Nitish Kumar (JDU) and Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), according to Pawar.
He went on to say that when the government is managed with assistance from others, “adjustment” (samanjasya) cannot be ignored, and this kind of circumstance has been the norm in the nation.
Since the results of the Lok Sabha election revealed that the BJP needs the support of the NDA allies in order to secure a majority, Pawar has been criticizing Modi.
The previous day, Pawar questioned whether Modi, who took the oath of office as prime minister for a record third term, was qualified to govern the nation.
The leader of the NCP (SP), taking a jab at Modi for calling Pawar a “bhatakti aatma” (wandering soul) during the election campaign, stated, “It is good since the soul is eternal and this soul will not spare you.” With eight of the ten Lok Sabha seats it ran for won by the Pawar-led NCP in Maharashtra, the state saw the highest strike rate.