In post-poll sweetener, Ayodhya shops’ price slashed by 30%.

Shops will be handed over to allottees on a 20 -year easy installment without interest, says Ayodhya divisional commissioner Gaurav Dayal. In another policy change after the BJP suffered a shock defeat in the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency earlier this month, the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) on Thursday slashed the price of shops by 30% for allottees who were displaced due to a road widening project undertaken in the temple town. In addition, it approved the proposal to hand over 500 newly constructed shops to allottees in Ayodhya on 20-year easy installment without interest. Hindustan Times on June 16 had reported that this proposal for “possession first and pay later” with interest-free, long-term instalments was in the pipeline. Now that it has been cleared, the ADA will send the proposal to the state government. Ayodhya divisional commissioner Gaurav Dayal, who chaired the board meeting, later said, “We have approved a proposal to cut shops’ cost by 30%. In addition, shops will be handed over to allottees on a 20 -year easy installment without interest.” Dayal is also chairman of the Ayodhya Development Authority. These shopkeepers were displaced in the 13- km road widening project from Sahadatganj to Naya Ghat which has been named as Ram Path. The project was completed in December 2023. Earlier, shopkeepers had to pay the full amount to the ADA to take possession of shops. As these shops cost around ₹15 lakh to ₹20 lakh, shopkeepers were unable to pay the amount. The only option before them was to take bank loans. bIn December last, these shops were ready. But due to financial constraints only around 75 shopkeepers took possession of shops till the last month. “We are thankful to the state government for bringing down the cost of shops by 30%. And the remaining amount will be payable in easy interest -free installments of 20 years,” said Ved Prakash Gupta, BJP MLA from Ayodhya (Sadar) assembly constituency. The traders in Ayodhya have welcomed the state government’s decision. “This is a much needed breather for traders of Ayodhya. After much effort, there is relief for us,” said trader leader Nandlal Gupta, who had played a prominent role in all agitations by shopkeepers. In the recently concluded parliamentary election, the BJP suffered one of its most humiliating defeats in the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency where its two-time MP Lallu Singh lost to Samajwadi Party’s Awadesh Prasad. The INDIA bloc candidate won the prestigious seat by a margin of 54567 votes. Prasad got 554289 votes and Singh bagged 499722 votes. After the grand opening of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya by PM Narendra Modi on January 22 this year, the people of Faizabad voted for the first time and rejected the BJP. The Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency, the geographical centre of Kamandal or temple politics, has consistently witnessed an undercurrent of caste dynamics since the late 1980s.