Lucknow: As the first capital of the princely state of Awadh in the early 18th century, the seeds of the famous 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb’ were sown in Faizabad, which was then a small city barely 20 km from the temple town of Ayodhya. FULL COVERAGE | ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017
It's this region, including Faizabad, which now goes to the polls on February 27 in phase 5 of the Uttar Pradesh elections.
For the BSP, it is Bazmi Siddiqui. He realises the significance of being a candidate from Ayodhya. “A ticket for me from Ayodhya is proof of our leader Mayawati's firm faith in the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb. Politics of hate will be defeated in Ayodhya this time,” he says.
The party's state general secretary, Vijay Bahadur Pathak, says, “Politics of caste and religion will not work this time. Development is the sole agenda. BJP's slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ is resonating with the voters.”
However, serious doubts are raised over the BJP’s claim of shunning “politics of religion” when leaders like Vinay Katiyar, a party MP, rake up the Ram Temple issue. In an earlier interview to News18 Katiyar had said that the “BJP government in UP will help pave the way for Ram Temple in Ayodhya”. It was seen as an attempt to polarise voters in this crucial region.
“Over the decades, Hindu radicalisation had been the strongest in this region as well as eastern UP. Gorakhpur MP Mehant Adityanath's Hindu Yuva Vahini has also made deep inroads in this area of erstwhile Awadh. BJP will hence hope for a counter, Hindu polarisation,” says Professor Trivedi.
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