The INDIA bloc has planned a series of rallies in Ayodhya from May 9 to 18 to blunt the BJP's polarising plank centred around the Ram temple.

“There will be road shows and rallies by Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav. These leaders are in great demand here and their presence in Ayodhya before polling will send a positive message across,” said Parasnath Yadav, the Ayodhya district president of the Samajwadi Party, an INDIA partner.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's road show in Ayodhya on Sunday, Parasnath said: “We had realised that Modi’s visit even before the Election Commission has announced the final list of candidates from Ayodhya was not normal. What was the hurry when the election is scheduled here on May 20? Now Modi and other BJP leaders are spreading the rumour that a non-BJP government will convert the temple into a hospital and also tinker with the Supreme Court’s order on the Ram temple. The people know that the BJP is making such statements out of frustration because its voters are not interested in casting their ballots.”

The INDIA allies believe that bereft of any genuine issue, Modi and his party would “intensify” their campaign around the Ram temple with each passing phase.

Their apprehensions gained ground when Pramod Krishnam, a religious storyteller and BJP leader, told reporters at his ashram in Sambhal on Monday that if voted to power, the Congress would reverse the Supreme Court’s order on the Ram temple.

“Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with his party leaders after the court order (in November 2019) and said that a commission would be formed if the Congress won. They will reverse the court order the way the Congress did in the Shah Bano case,” said Krishnam, who was previously with the Congress and left the party allegedly because he was denied a Lok Sabha ticket.

Modi has said in his election rallies over the past two days that the Congress would convert the Ram temple into a hospital.

The Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government had in 1986 nullified the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case that said that a Muslim woman deserted by her husband was entitled to alimony.

Claiming that the Congress was always in favour of the Ram temple, V.N. Das, a veteran journalist and political observer, said: “We have known since Indira Gandhi’s rule that she was in favour of the Ram temple but had looked for an amicable solution. The gate of the Babri Masjid was opened by a district court’s orders on February 1, 1986, and the then Rajiv Gandhi government had followed it.

“The Nehru-Gandhi family was in a position to use the Ayodhya controversy in its favour. But there was a rumour in the late 1980s that some bureaucrats and politicians, including Mani Shankar Aiyar and M.J. Akbar, misled Rajiv and forced him to stop showing interest in temple politics. Looking for an opportunity, the BJP quickly latched onto the issue,” Das said.

The Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, under which Ayodhay falls, has been witnessing some twists and turns. The CPI, an INDIA partner, has fielded a candidate from here and he is being accused of helping the BJP by trying to divide the OBC votes. But observers still don’t believe that it will be a clean sweep for the BJP here.

“The CPI has fielded Arvindsen Yadav, son of former MP (from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party) Mitrasen Yadav, to weaken Awadhesh Prasad of INDIA. But I don’t think Yadav will be able to hurt Prasad, who is a Dalit and a nine-time MLA. In fact, Sachchidanand Pandey of the BSP will snatch the upper caste votes of Lallu Singh of the BJP, who is seeking a third consecutive term,” said Triyug Narayan, a lawyer in Ayodhya.

Arun Pandey, a mobile phone accessories shop owner in Ayodhya, said: “I am a voter of the Modi-led BJP. But age is catching up with him. This is why he is losing control over his speeches. I wish he becomes PM again but it is a tough proposition this time.”

But a restaurateur in Ayodhya said on the condition of anonymity: “I cannot predict but the fact is that the common man’s economy has crumbled during Modi’s rule. It may worsen if he wins and becomes PM again.”