BJP shocker in Ayodhya: Saffron party trails in Faizabad, the seat that houses Ram Mandir

One of BJP’s 2019 poll manifesto was the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, and the party delivered it. The party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi organised a grand opening of the temple on January 22. BJP was expected to ride on the Ram mandir wave. However, the early trends show BJP’s Lallu Singh trailing by over 3,000 votes to Samajwadi Party’s (SP’s) Awadhesh Prasad in Faizabad, the constituency under which Ayodhya falls.

This comes as one of the biggest surprises as Faizabad was considered a safe seat for the BJP. However, the SP is leading not only in the constituency but also in more than 30 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh.

Most poll experts predicted a landslide victory for BJP in the Lok Sabha election, but early trends show that BJP could be restricted to under 300. The INDIA bloc leads in around 230 seats.


The BJP has been surprised in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. These were the states where BJP was predicted to win big in the exit polls.

The INDIA bloc is leading in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. The BJP could cross the majority mark but could end up with lesser seats than expected.