On the eve of Dussehra — when effigies of Ravana burn across Uttar Pradesh — Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav turned the festival's symbolism into a pointed political attack on Sunday, 18 October 2026, alleging that a BJP-linked poster was deliberately placed to obscure an image of Lord Ram and shield the party from public anger over alleged financial irregularities at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.

In a combative post on X, Akhilesh wrote that the BJP's real motive was not to put up a new poster but to hide the image of 'Prabhu Ram' (Lord Ram) beneath it — because, he argued, the sight of Lord Ram now triggers public memory of what he called the 'theft' at Ramlala's temple in Ayodhya. 'Whenever anyone sees an image of Lord Ram, they are reminded of the theft committed at the Ramlala temple in Ayodhya by the BJP gang and their associates, which only inflames public rage further against that gang,' the SP chief wrote.

Dussehra effigy politics: the 'tri-demon' taunt

Akhilesh sharpened the Dussehra metaphor further, warning that alongside Ravana's effigy, some aggrieved devotee may just choose to burn effigies of what he called the 'chadhawa-chanda-daan' — the three demons of offering-collection, donation, and contribution theft. The framing is deliberate: it invokes the festival's tradition of burning the wicked, and redirects it from mythology to contemporary grievance.

He also revived a separate allegation, reminding followers that this same 'BJP gang' had, according to him, ordered a lathi charge on people associated with the Ramcharitmanas in Lucknow. The double invocation — Ram Mandir and Ramcharitmanas — is designed to portray the BJP as hostile to the very faith it claims to champion.

Ram Mandir inauguration and the corruption allegations that followed

The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was inaugurated on 22 January 2024 under the BJP-led central government, in a nationally televised ceremony that dominated India's political calendar that year. Almost immediately, opposition parties — the Samajwadi Party prominent among them — began raising questions about the management of donations, construction accounts, and temple-trust governance. Those allegations have never been tested in court or substantiated in official audit findings available through October 2026.

Akhilesh's post is the latest in a pattern the SP has followed consistently: using the Ram Mandir — a symbol the BJP invested enormous political capital in — as a counter-offensive tool, arguing that the BJP's stewardship of the shrine has betrayed the faith of ordinary devotees.

What this means for Uttar Pradesh's political temperature

Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, remains the central battlefield for both the BJP and the SP. With assembly elections on the horizon, the SP has calculated that anchoring an anti-corruption message in the language of aastha (faith) is more potent than conventional opposition rhetoric. Calling the BJP a 'giro' (gang) — rather than a party — is a register shift that signals Akhilesh is in full campaign mode.

Whether the temple trust or the BJP issues a formal rebuttal, and how the clergy and devotees of Ayodhya respond, will determine whether this framing gains traction or invites a counter-mobilisation. The effigy of Ravana burns tonight. Whose political capital burns with it is the real question heading into the next electoral cycle.