LUCKNOW: Although the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls are due only in 2027, political experts suggest that the increasing number of temple-mosque disputes in the state and the resultant polarisation have started to set the political narrative.
Analysts point to the recent bypolls in the state where slogans like “Batenge to Katenge” (divided we perish) played a key role in ensuring Hindu unity. And it is in this backdrop that the experts feel that the intensifying temple-mosque polarisation pitch has its own implications.
“During the bypolls, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Batenge to Katenge’ slogan was seen as a response to the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) attempt to create caste-based mobilisation using the PDA (Backwards, Dalits, Minorities) move. The outcome (of the bypolls) was clearly in favour of the BJP,” political analyst Rajeev Ranjan told PTI.
