'BJP is Lord Ram's Vyapari' not 'Pujari,'' Congress' Pramod Tiwari takes dig at BJP for losing in Ayodhya

Pointing out the defeat of the BJP candidate from Faizabad, where Ayodhya Ram Mandir was situated, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari slammed BJP, saying that the party is a 'Vyapari' of Lord Ram not 'Pujari'.

"Ayodhya was given most of the time and it was made the biggest election plank (by the BJP), but PM Modi couldn't make their candidate win from there (Faizabad). BJP is the 'Vyapari' of Lord Ram not 'Pujari'," Pramod Tiwari told ANI.

BJP candidate Lallu Singh lost to Samajwadi Party's Awadesh Prasad in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad constituency. Prasad polled 54,567 more votes than the BJP candidate.

Top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up the Ram Mandir Prana pratishtha ceremony in their campaign speeches and assailed the Opposition leaders for not attending it. They alleged that the Opposition leaders did not attend the ceremony because of their appeasement politics.

Attacking the Prime Minister, Pramod Tiwari also said that candidates from the other parties in the NDA fold won not because of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"They (NDA) were brought down to 240 seats from 303 seats. NDA did not win seats because of Modiji but because of NDA, BJP won seats," Tiwari said.

Ram Mandir issue did not pay political dividends to the BJP in the battleground state of Uttar Pradesh where its tally reduced to 35 in the 2024 election from 62 seats in 2019, while the INDIA alliance won 44 seats.

The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav called the victory a "people-loved victory of INDIA alliance."

Taking to his official X handle, Akhilesh Yadav penned down a note to the people of Uttar Pradesh. Calling them "sensible voters of UP", he posted, "People-loved victory of INDIA alliance in Uttar Pradesh. It is also a victory of the trust of the Dalit-Bahujan community which, along with its backward, minority, tribal, and all the neglected, exploited and oppressed sections of the society, has fought shoulder to shoulder to save the Constitution which gives the right to equality, respect, self-respect, dignified life and reservation."

In the post, he further said that this is the victory of that strong alliance of backwards-dalit-minority-tribal, half the population and backwards among the upper castes in the form of PDA (Pichada, Dalit and Alpsankhyak), which is made even stronger by the people of every society and class with their cooperation and contribution."