Uttar Pradesh Elections: Temple Trust Leadership Overhaul Sparks Concerns as Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision Exercise Raises Questions

As the Ayodhya Ram temple trust, in its first meeting since allegations of donation theft, decided to overhaul its organisation and leadership, the story made it to the front pages of the leading Urdu dailies, which have put the spotlight on Uttar Pradesh politics in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly elections. The dailies also kept their focus on the Election Commission (EC)’s ongoing phase three of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in large parts of the country, which continues to cause worry and fear among sizeable sections of common people. SIASAT With barely eight months left for the UP Assembly polls, the Hyderabad -based Siasat, in its July 7 editorial, points out that major contenders and their leaders have stepped up preparations to fight the elections in the country’s most politically crucial state. “UP politics is heating up, with the upcoming elections likely to witness a keen battle between the ruling BJP and the principal Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP). While the BJP has its NDA allies on board, the SP-led alliance includes the Congress and some smaller parties,” it says, adding that both camps have started the process to select their seats and candidates. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is set to lead the BJP’s poll campaign, while Akhilesh Yadav will spearhead his party’s challenge, the editorial states. “Adityanath has been holding rallies and meetings, announcing various programmes and schemes. Akhilesh has also been trying to galvanise the SP leaders and workers for the high-stakes polls,” it says. The daily states that while the BJP is apparently sitting pretty in UP, the recent row over alleged theft and embezzlement of funds and valuables donated to the Ram temple has jolted the party. “The alleged temple donation theft has caused disquiet among people, which may dent the BJP’s Hindutva plank. The temple trust comprises members close to the BJP dispensation at the Centre or in the state. The BJP is trying to distance itself from the row. It may also zero in on other issues to create its poll narrative,” it says. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance seems to be latching on to this controversy in a bid to build up its campaign against the BJP, the edit says, noting that the Opposition’s morale appears to be high, especially in light of its remarkable performance in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when it had got an upper hand. INQUILAB Highlighting the joint letter sent by 23 Opposition parties to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, appealing for the judiciary’s intervention over the conduct of the EC’s SIR of electoral rolls across the country, the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its July 1 leader, writes that the INDIA alliance’s move was not “merely a political or ritualistic initiative but an expression of disquiet among a large section of the people of the country”. “This letter is also an admission of a reality that when trust in all constitutional institutions falters, people still look up to the judiciary as their last hope,” the editorial says. The SIR has come under a cloud with several questions raised over the exercise, it notes. “If the preparation of voter lists, verification of voters and the transparency of the process remain suspect, how would the foundation of a democracy survive,” the edit asks. “It is the EC’s duty to facilitate every citizen’s right to vote without any discrimination — its mandate is not to take decisions that would push a large number of people to the brink of disenfranchisement,” the edit says. “Unfortunately, the government has also resorted to silence or aggression over questions raised against the EC’s conduct. The credibility of democratic institutions does not stem merely from constitutional provisions but also their impartial action. If a perception gains ground that the state institutions are subservient to the ruling dispensation’s political interest, then public trust on the fairness of elections is damaged.” The daily says the government should not gloss over the point that democracy is not just about winning elections but also about respecting dissenting views and institutions’ autonomy while upholding constitutional principles. “However, an atmosphere has built up in recent years, where every critical voice is linked to politics, every difference dubbed a ‘conspiracy’, and every question dismissed as an ‘anti-government campaign’,” it states. Referring to attempts to fuel divisions in the INDIA bloc, the editorial says that in this backdrop the entire Opposition’s move to close their ranks over alleged electoral irregularities is remarkable. “This signals the resilience of the fundamental principles of democracy,” the edit says, adding that all eyes are now on the judiciary. “It is the judiciary’s historic responsibility to ensure that public trust on courts endures.” SIASAT Referring to the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP)’s decision to field its founder Prashant Kishor, the poll strategist-turned-politician, from the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar, Siasat, in its July 6 editorial, points out that while Kishor has managed the poll campaigns of multiple parties in different states, this time he is set to take a plunge into electoral politics himself. “Although Kishor had fielded the JSP candidates in almost all of Bihar’s 243 seats in November 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, the party had drawn a blank. While deciding not to contest the election himself, he had then led the JSP’s campaign across the state. Ironically, a strategist who helped several parties to win elections over the years, could not ensure the same for his own party,” the edit says. The Bankipur seat has been vacated by BJP national president Nitin Nabin, who resigned as an MLA after he was elevated as the party chief and got elected to the Rajya Sabha , it notes. “Kishor’s debut from the Bankipur seat has heated up the bypoll fray, turning it into a high-profile contest,” it says, adding that the BJP is going all out to retain its bastion from where Nabin has won consecutive five times. The daily notes that Kishor had been a part of Narendra Modi’s campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “He had since helped Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy ’s YSRCP and M K Stalin’s DMK, among other parties, to win their respective state elections. He had however failed to do the same for his own party in his home state. His move to contest the Bankipur seat thus assumes additional significance,” it says, adding that this is Kishor’s gamble as his political fortunes would depend on the bypoll outcome. If he fails to put up a good show, his political salience would be reduced to zero, the edit says. “But if Kishor manages to wrest the Bankipur seat from the BJP, it may give a new lease of life to the JSP while reviving his own political credibility. It may also lead to a fresh realignment in Bihar politics.”