The tricky Ayodhya load

BJP has won the Ayodhya Assembly and Faizabad Lok Sabha constituencies several times since 1991

Ayodhya is a millstone the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has carried around its neck since the Babri mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992. It is something it cannot disown or distance itself from. Ayodhya brought mixed political results for the party. Until the deed was done, it gained handsomely in electoral terms by fuelling the ‘dispute’ around the Ram temple. The temple plank is resurrected by the BJP when it gets defensive on other issues such as development and the economy, as the temple remains the most potent symbol of Hindutva.

This October 18, when Uttar Pradesh was readying