3:03 a.m. ET, May 1, 2019
Modi to address rally in Ayodhya. Here's why that's a big deal
From CNN's Swati Gupta
Thousands of Hindus gather in support of the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, on December 9, 2018 in New Delhi, India.
Photo by Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be speaking in the city of Ayodhya for the first time this election cycle.
Why is Ayodhya significant?
A small temple town, Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has gained prominence in Indian politics over a small piece of disputed land that is nestled in the middle of the city.
The land has been a
point of contention between Hindu and Muslim groups across the country and tensions over the site led to some of the deadliest nationwide rioting in modern Indian history in 1992.
What happened?
Right wing Hindu nationalists have
claimed for decades that the land in Ayodhya is the birthplace of one of their most revered Hindu gods, Ram, and want a temple to be built in the exact spot to honor his memory.
However, a mosque stood in the spot where Hindu activists say is the holy site. In 1992, after months-long campaigns and rallies, thousands of party workers belonging to Hindu nationalist groups or political parties, including Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, descended on the city and tore down the mosque.
The destruction of the mosque, known as the Babri mosque, resulted in widespread Hindu-Muslim riots across the country, in which thousands died.
What's Modi got to do with it?
Tensions continue to simmer as Hindu nationalist activists advocate for the construction of the Ram temple, but the matter of the land ownership is tied up in the courts and there has been no legal resolution.
Modi in an interview earlier this year said that the judicial process should be respected. “The legal recourse should be allowed to go on. It should not be measured politically. The issue is in the court and it should be completed there. After the court’s decision, the government will work hard to fulfill its duty,” said Modi.
Leaders of Modi’s BJP have publicly demanded the construction of the temple at the site and his rally today is being seen as sign of a promise that the temple will be built soon.
Modi campaigned on the issue before the 2014 elections and the party’s election manifestoes have included the promise to build the temple -- a demand which is
central to his right wing Hindu base.
With the Kashmir terror attack in the background, the BJP has increasingly relied on Modi’s tough stance on Pakistan and terrorism during the election campaign.
Uttar Pradesh holds 80 parliamentary seats and is the most populous state in the country. It's also heavily divided along communal and caste lines. The main opposition party, Congress has stayed away from making any public remarks on Ayodhya or the temple controversy.
BJP is facing tough competition from a regional alliance in the state. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) -- traditionally rivals-- have joined hands in an attempt to wrest away the most electorally important state in the elections from BJP’s hands.
The BJP swept the state in both the 2014 national elections and the state elections in 2017.
Home to some of the worst riots in recent memory, the state is being currently governed by a priest-turned-politician, Yogi Adityanath.