NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday indicated that he would visit the Ram Temple in Ayodhya next month, saying that a date had been finalised after consulting members of the Brahmin community and checking astrological calculations.“As for the date, our Pawan Pandey has consulted with many members of the Brahmin community, examined the planets (nakshatras), and drawing upon knowledge of astronomy, has determined a specific date and time, taking into account the positions of the Sun and the Moon,” Yadav told reporters in a tongue-in-cheek response.On November 7, former Ayodhya MLA Pawan Pandey had announced that Yadav would visit Ayodhya on December 12. He is expected to be accompanied by his wife, Dimple Yadav, who is also a Lok Sabha MP. The two are likely to visit the Ram Temple as well as the Hanumangarhi Temple.The proposed visit has added to the political exchanges between the ruling BJP and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP has repeatedly criticised Yadav for not visiting the Ram Temple, accusing him of pursuing “appeasement politics”.Yadav, meanwhile, has accused the BJP and Sangh organisations of wrongdoing in connection with donations collected for the temple, using the phrase “chanda chori”.The December visit would be Yadav’s first to the Ram Temple since its inauguration in January 2024. He had visited Ayodhya in October 2026 to attend a religious katha but did not visit the temple.There has also been speculation that the SP chief is adopting a softer Hindutva approach to counter the BJP. The ruling party has repeatedly brought up the police firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya in the 1990s, when the state was governed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh’s father.Akhilesh had earlier said he would visit the Ram Temple after the completion of Kedareshwar Dham, a project initiated during his government’s tenure in Etawah.Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that those responsible for firing on Ram devotees and subjecting saints to a lathi-charge should apologise before visiting the temple.
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On Tuesday, state BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary also questioned the proposed date and asked Yadav to visit the temple on December 6 instead of December 12.“If this is not a new political ploy in the name of Lord Ram but genuine repentance, then visit the Ram temple on December 6, not 12,” Chaudhary, who is also a Union minister, said in a post on X.December 6 marks the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992 by kar sevaks led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The Ram Temple now stands at the site.