In Ayodhya, the ground zero of Ram Janmabhoomi movement, the electoral contest involved higher stakes this year as this was the first assembly elections following the judicial order of 2019 that paved the way for the Ram temple's construction at the once-disputed site. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was able to win three out of Ayodhya district's five seats.
Among the five assembly segments, the electoral contest in Ayodhya Sadar was the most keenly watched as the Ram temple is being constructed in this constituency. The BJP was able to retain the seat, with incumbent MLA Ved Prakash defeating his nearest Samajwadi Party (SP) rival Tej Narayan.
The BJP also registered a win in Bikapur, where Abhay Singh Chauhan, the son of incumbent MLA Shobha Singh Chauhan, scored a victory against his nearest challenger, the SP's Firoz Khan.
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The saffron party was also victorious in Rudauli, where incumbent legislator Ramchandra Yadav won with a decisive margin of over 39,000 votes against SP's Anand Sen.
The BJP, however, lost the seat of Milkipur, where party candidate Baba Gorakhnath was defeated by SP's Awadhesh Prasad.
The ruling party also suffered a rout in Goshainganj, where SP's Abhay Singh defeated BJP's Arti Tiwari by a margin of close to 10,000 votes.
While the BJP has won the majority of seats in Ayodhya, its performance is a setback as compared to 2017, when it had won all the five constituencies of the holy district.
Notably, the BJP has succeeded in breaking a 37-year-old jinx as it has become the first incumbent ruling party in these years to retain power in Uttar Pradesh. The party, along with allies Apna Dal (Soneylal) and Nishad Party, was likely to win over 270 seats -- way above the halfway mark of 202.
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