The Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri mosque dispute in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya dominated Indian politics for three decades, culminating in the grand inauguration of the Ram temple by Prime Minister Narendra Modi months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. It also became the main poll plank of the BJP.      

But the Faizabad constituency, which comprises Ayodhya, was won by Samajwadi Party’s veteran leader Awadhesh Prasad. The Dalit leader defeated two-time BJP MP Lallu Singh with a margin of 54,000 votes. In a setback to the saffron party, the SP won a total of 37 Lok Sabha seats in UP. 

In this conversation with Newslaundry, Prasad spoke about his victory in Ayodhya, the “real Ram bhakts”, BJP’s politics vs Samajwadi Party’s PDA, and the problems of the people of Ayodhya.

Watch.

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