Balrampur:
Will Ayodhya see a face-off between Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his predecessor Akhilesh Yadav in the upcoming UP elections? The BJP leader has thrown down the gauntlet at the Samawadi chief in response to his Ayodhya dare.
“Akhilesh ji, I have an offer for you. You also file your nomination from Shri Ayodhya Dham, and I will do the same,” Adityanath said while inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for 78 developmental projects worth over Rs 800 crore in Balrampur district.
Responding to him, Yadav said a young candidate is enough to take on the BJP in Ayodhya, pointing to the Ram temple donation theft row. The Samajwadi Party has already declared Tej Narayan Pandey as its candidate from Ayodhya.
Akhilesh Yadav’s Challenge
Akhilesh Yadav had on Thursday challenged the chief minister to contest the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections from Ayodhya, which had been central to the BJP’s temple politics over the years.
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“Ever since we announced our candidate, the BJP has been holding survey after survey, and it is falling behind in every survey. We are now hearing that they have not been able to find a new candidate for Ayodhya. If the chief minister, who makes tall claims, is so confident, he should contest the election from Ayodhya himself and prove it,” the Samajwadi chief had said.
Yogi Adityanath’s Dare
In his response, Adityanath asserted that for the BJP, Ayodhya is a sacred place and not merely a battleground.
अखिलेश जी, मैं आपको ऑफर करता हूं। आइए, आप भी श्री अयोध्या धाम में नामांकन करिए और मैं भी करता हूं… https://t.co/R4Jtz6vNOw
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) October 10, 2026
“The Samajwadi Party is rattled. He (Yadav) can no longer see the development taking place in the state, nor does he have the ability to recognise it. He challenges me to contest the election from Ayodhya. I offer you to file your nomination from Ayodhya, and I will contest from there too. Let us test our luck once. Why fight through your followers? The contest should be face-to-face,” the chief minister said.
READ | Ram Temple Donation Theft Caught On CCTV 105 Times: Probe Report
A Response Within Hours
Yadav was quick to reply to the chief minister. He reminded him of the BJP’s defeat in 2024 in Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency, which comprises Ayodhya, and said one of the young candidates is enough to win against the BJP in the assembly poll too.
अयोध्या में ‘चढ़ावा-चंदा-दान’ चोरों को हराने के लिए हमारा एक युवा ‘पीडीए प्रहरी’ ही काफ़ी है। चोरों को क्लीन चिट देनेवाले हिस्सेदार होते हैं। दूध का दूध, पानी का पानी तो हुआ नहीं, इस बार जनता घमंड का सारा पानी उतार देगी। लोकसभा भूल गये क्या? और बाक़ी कसर अयोध्या की वो माताएं पूरा कर देंगी जिन्होंने सरेआम दुखी माँ का अपमान करते हुए अहंकारियों को देखा है। अपने इंटर्नल सर्वे में आपको ये बात पता चली कि नही कि अयोध्या में आपकी तरफ़ से कोई चुनाव नहीं लड़ना चाहता है। पावन स्थलों पर वनस्पतिजीवियों का कोई काम नहीं।
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) October 10, 2026
“One of our young ‘PDA’ sentinels is enough to defeat the donation thieves in Ayodhya. Those who give clean chits to thieves are partners in crime. The public will end their arrogance. Have you forgotten the Lok Sabha?” he said in an X post.
The ‘PDA’ is an acronym for pichhda (backward classes), Dalit, and alpsankhyak (minorities), often used by the Samajwadis as a slogan.
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“The rest will be taken care of by those mothers of Ayodhya who have openly witnessed the humiliation of a grieving mother by the arrogant ones. Did your internal survey reveal whether anyone from your side wants to contest the election in Ayodhya?” Yadav said.
The donation theft at the Ram temple is a major issue being used by the Opposition to target the state’s BJP government.
