NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav will visit the Ram Temple and Hanumangarhi in Ayodhya on December 12, former SP MLA Pawan Pandey announced on Saturday, ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections scheduled for early 2027.“Both Akhilesh ji and his wife Dimple Yadav ji will visit Ram Temple and also visit the Hanumangarhi temple at Ayodhya on December 12,” Pandey, who has been renominated as the SP candidate from Ayodhya, told reporters.The proposed visit will be Akhilesh’s first to the Ram Temple since its inauguration in January 2024. The SP chief has faced repeated criticism from the BJP over not visiting the temple, with the ruling party accusing him of pursuing appeasement politics.Pandey said Akhilesh would visit Ayodhya with his family, meet saints and seek their blessings. The announcement comes as the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath prepares for Deepotsav celebrations in the temple town.Akhilesh has previously said he would visit the Ram Temple after the completion of Kedareshwar Dham, a temple being built by the Samajwadi Party in Etawah.
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He has also accused the BJP and Sangh organisations of “chanda chori” in connection with the Ram Temple.The proposed visit comes amid the political contest over Ayodhya ahead of the 2027 polls. The BJP has repeatedly invoked the police firing on karsevaks in the 1990s, when Mulayam Singh Yadav was Uttar Pradesh chief minister, while targeting the SP.