Kalyug in Ram Rajya: Over 50 lakh of street lights stolen in Ayodhya

In a shocking revelation that casts a long shadow over the BJP government's much-touted Ayodhya development project, it has come to the fore that over 3,800 bamboo lights installed on Ram Path and 36 gobo projector lights on Bhakti Path were stolen — three months ago. 

The lights, worth over Rs 50 lakh, were part of a grand refurbishment plan ahead of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple. The shocking theft, reported three months after the incident, raises serious questions about the state of law and order in a city that is a cornerstone of the BJP’s political agenda.

The grandiose lighting installations on Ram Path and Bhakti Path were carried out by Yash Enterprises and Krishna Automobiles under a contract awarded by the Ayodhya Development Authority.

According to Shekhar Sharma, representative of one of the firms, a case was lodged at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station on August 9.

These installations, intended to symbolise the city's spiritual and cultural rebirth, now ironically highlight the glaring incompetence and negligence of the administration.

Why did it take so long for such a significant theft to be reported? This is what many on social media asked, not surprisingly. Some said Ram has been cheated by the BJP.

Political observers with their eyes on Uttar Pradesh say that redeveloped Ayodhya is not just a city; it has been the heart of the BJP's political narrative, touted as a harbinger of 'Ram Rajya'.

The grand promises of development and cultural revival in Ayodhya — and by extension, heralding similar prosperity and fanfare elsewhere — were key to the BJP’s electoral success in the last assembly elections. However, in the Lok Sabha, the BJP faced defeat in the Faizabad seat (the prior name of the town as well as the district it is situated in).

The loss of the lights alone is not the point, of course. It’s the rampant corruption and negligence that have become synonymous with the BJP’s governance in Uttar Pradesh, which this whole incident points to.

How can such a large-scale theft go unnoticed or unaddressed for months in a city that is supposed to be under constant surveillance, the apple of the Hindutva eye for the whole nation?

The answer must surely lie in the systemic corruption that has infiltrated every level of the state’s administration?