Lucknow/Ayodhya, Nov. 8 -- Samajwadi Party national president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will visit the Ram temple in Ayodhya with his family on December 12, party leader and former former UP minister Tej Narayan Pandey, popularly known as Pawan Pandey, confirmed on Saturday. This will be Yadav's first visit to the shrine since its consecration in January 2024. Soon after the announcement, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, without naming Yadav, said, "Tender an apology to Ram Bhakts first for firing on karsevaks before coming to Ayodhya." He was referring to the firing on karsevaks on October 30 and November 2, 1990, when Akhilesh's father, Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. The chief minister was addressing seers at Ram Katha Park in Ayodhya at the 10th edition of Deepotsav. The SP has in the past maintained that the then government had to act to maintain law and order. The announcement about Yadav's proposed visit comes nearly three years after the temple's grand consecration and just months before the high-stakes 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. "SP national president Akhilesh Ji along with his family will first visit Hanumangarhi and then the Ram Temple. I will also be with them," Pandey told HT. Yadav, along with his wife Dimple Yadav and their children, will first offer prayers at the historic Hanumangarhi temple before proceeding to the Ram Temple for darshan of Ram Lalla. In a sharp response, the chief minister said, "Those who got bullets fired on karsevaks, who shed the blood of Ram Bhakts on the streets of Ayodhya, are coming here to seek blessings. First, they should apologise to the karsevaks, to the seers, and to the people of Ayodhya." Adityanath also said Ayodhya does not belong to any one party or family. "Ayodhya is the land of Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram. Those who insulted the sentiments of crores of Ram Bhakts cannot wash away their sins merely by visiting the temple," he said. The chief minister said the same forces that had opposed the Ram temple movement were now try- ing to take political mileage from the Ram temple. "Earlier, they used to say Ram did not exist. Today they are coming to Ayodhya. This is the victory of the faith of the people," he said. Reacting to the chief minister's remarks, SP national spokesperson Abbas Haider stated, "The chief minister should stop preaching about apologies and intr- ospect instead. During the Akhilesh Yadav government, Ayodhya witnessed concrete development, including the construction of a Bhajan Centre, beautification of the Saryu ghats and initiatives to promote religious tourism. We developed Ayodhya without dividing people in the name of religion."...