Hanuman Garhi priest to contest Ayodhya mayoral polls on Shiv Sena ticket

Shiv Sena state chief Anil Singh said that party’s top leaders will hold road shows and address public meetings in Ayodhya to support Das. (File/Photo)

In a jolt to the BJP, Hanuman Garhi mahant Raju Das will contest the mayoral elections in Ayodhya on a Shiv Sena ticket. Das had approached the state Sena chief Anil Singh late on Saturday night after the BJP preferred its district executive committee member Rishikesh Upadhyay over him. Das, who is an ABVP leader as well as formerly associated with VHP’s Bajrang Dal, joined the Sena on Sunday and will file his nomination papers on Monday.

Das told The Indian Express that the BJP gave its ticket to a “commercial” person instead of a dedicated party worker. When asked whether he would quit the ABVP where he is an election coordinator, Das said the mayor elections will be his first target and decisions on other issues came later. He added that the the Sena’s ideology matched his on Hindutva and development.

The BJP, meanwhile, said Das’s move will not affect the party’s prospects. Sena state chief Anil Singh said that party’s top leaders will hold road shows and address public meetings in Ayodhya to support Das.

“Raju Das is a prominent social worker and priest of Hanuman Garhi temple, which is associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. We will contest the election in Ayodhya with the dual agenda of Hindutva with Development,” Singh said.

Rishikesh Upadhyay, the BJP pick, had never held any post in the RSS but is considered close to senior RSS functionaries and used to be associated with its programmes.

Mahant Das had earlier worked in the VHP’s Bajrang Dal as a convener in Faizabad city.  Since 2004, he has been an election coordinator with the ABVP and as polling booth agent for BJP in the Lok Sabha and UP Assembly elections.

He had played a key role in elections management for ABVP candidates in student union polls in entire Faizabad district. BJP state spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said that if any party worker quit and moved to another party for “ambitions” only, it did not affect the organisation.