The entire Sangh Parivar, particularly the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), has joined hands to ensure victory of sitting BJP MLA Lallu Singh from the Ayodhya Assembly segment. The legislator has been victorious from this seat for four times in a row and is again in fray eyeing a record of sorts for the fifth consecutive term.
The ongoing training camps at Karsevakpuram, where the Bajrang Dal and the VHP activists were being trained, have been postponed and work at the ‘Karyashala’, where stones were being carved for the proposed Ram Janmabhoomi temple, has also been stopped as the VHP diverted all its resources and manpower in campaigning for the BJP nominee.
“Ayodhya is not only another Assembly constituency but a symbol of Hinduism where the prestige of the Sangh Parivar is at stake,” says Purshottam Singh, state chief of the VHP, who has been camping at Ayodhya with his entire entourage and is busy in door- to-door campaigning asking people to vote for the BJP in the name of Hinduism.
Losing this seat, says Singh, would send a wrong message that the Sangh Parivar has no say or grip even in Ayodhya and it will be a jolt to the champions of Hinduism, he added.
Media manager of the VHP at Ayodhya Sharad Sharma said VHP activists who were busy with the Hindu Ekta Yatras, which ended on May 27, are now busy in campaigning in the twin cities of Ayodhya and Faizabad. However, the apathy of voters in this temple town is worrying the Sangh Parivar.
{{/usCountry}}Media manager of the VHP at Ayodhya Sharad Sharma said VHP activists who were busy with the Hindu Ekta Yatras, which ended on May 27, are now busy in campaigning in the twin cities of Ayodhya and Faizabad. However, the apathy of voters in this temple town is worrying the Sangh Parivar.
{{/usCountry}}Interestingly, Beni Prasad Verma, the ‘rebel’ Samajwadi Party leader, who revolted against Mulayam, is also in the fray from Ayodhya where Lallu Singh is locked in a triangular contest with Indra Pratap Singh alias Khabbu of Samajwadi Party (More than a dozen cases are pending against Khabbu), Ashok Tiwari of the BSP. Beni Prasad Verma is contesting on the ticket of his new political outfit – the Samajwadi Kranti Party (SKP) — and is supported by the Congress. In all, there are 15 contestants in the fray.