Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had kicked off the recent urban local body election campaigns in Uttar Pradesh from Ayodhya and his ruling BJP made all-out efforts, yet they failed to paint the whole temple town saffron.
Caravan News
LUCKNOW — Known as the temple town, Ayodhya has played a key role in the rise and rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the last three decades. However, despite being the heart of its communal rhetoric, the saffron party could not paint the whole city saffron. The results of the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation elections are the latest proof. Eleven Muslim candidates, mostly on Samajwadi Party tickets, have emerged victorious and they will enter the newly-constituted Ayodhya Municipal Corporation.
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Muslim Winners in Ayodhya Municipal Corporation Election |
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| Ward | Nature of Seat | Winner | Party | |
| 1 | 16- Rath Haveli | Women | Rukhsar Haider Zaidi | Samajwadi Party |
| 2 | 26- Begumganj Gadhaiya | OBC – Women | Ishrat Jahan | Independent |
| 3 | 56- Fatehganj | OBC | Naushad Ahmed | Samajwadi Party |
| 4 | 42- Dal Mandi | OBC | Md Irshad | Samajwadi Party |
| 5 | 34- Swami Vivekananda | OBC – Women | Mukht Jahan @ Mukhtar Jahan | Samajwadi Party |
| 6 | 12- Acharya Narendra Dev | General | Md. Sadiq | Independent |
| 7 | 32-Ram Prasad Bismil | General | Salman Haider | Independent |
| 8 | 59- Wazirganj | Women | Saima Khan | Samajwadi Party |
| 9 | 18- Pramhans Ram Mangal Das | General | Asad Ahmed | Samajwadi Party |
| 10 | 57- Chandar Shekhar Azad | General | Md. Fareed | Samajwadi Party |
| 11 | 35- Bal Gangadhar Tilak | OBC | Md. Naushad | Bahujan Samaj Party |
Interestingly, among the Muslim winners is a close relative of one of the oldest litigants of Babri Masjid case. Asad Ahmed, nephew of Haji Mahboob, has won from the Ward 18 that is known as Pramhans Ram Mangal Das ward. Haji Mahboob lives just 200 meters from the place where Babri Masjid once stood.
However, the lone Muslim candidate fielded by the saffron party was defeated by an Independent Muslim candidate.
Despite massive campaigning by the BJP leaders including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who had even kicked off the statewide urban civic body election campaign from here, the party won only half of the total seats of Ayodhya Municipal Corporation.
Also read: UP ELECTIONS: EXCEPT MAYORAL POSTS, NON-BJP WINNERS OUTNUMBER BJP WINNERS IN ALL OTHER SEGMENTS
BJP won 30 out of 60 seats in the newly constituted corporation – Ayodhya was upgraded to Municipal Corporation by the Yogi government in May this year.
The rest 30 seats were won by Samajwadi Party (18), Bahujan Samaj Party (2), Congress (1) and Independents (9).
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Party-wise Tall in 60-Member Ayodhya Municipal Corporation |
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| Party | Number of Winners |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 30 |
| Samajwadi Party | 18 |
| Bahujan Samaj Party | 2 |
| Indian National Congress | 1 |
| Independents | 9 |
In the entire state, the BJP has won 14 out of 16 Municipal Corporations. However, its performance in five other tiers of the local bodies has not been very impressive. For example, the party could win only 916 seats in municipal corporations while others have won 4,295 seats. Similarly, in Nagar Panchayats, BJP won 663 seats while others have won 4,715 seats.