Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accepted defeat on Tuesday in a constituency where the unveiling of a significant Hindu temple a few months earlier by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to solidify his legacy and secure the party's electoral success.

The BJP appears poised for substantial setbacks in the significant northern state of Uttar Pradesh, with the opposition Samajwadi Party and Congress leading in over half of its 80 seats, notably in Ayodhya city within the Faizabad constituency where Modi inaugurated the temple in January.

The inauguration of the temple, dedicated to a Hindu deity on a site historically disputed by India's minority Muslims, marked the fulfilment of a three-decade-old BJP pledge, prominently featured in nearly every campaign rally during the extensive two-month voting process in the nation.

The most recent data from the Election Commission indicates a reduction in the BJP's seat count to 33 in the state. This development has redirected the attention of analysts towards the prevailing issues of unemployment and soaring inflation.

"I could not protect your and Ayodhya's dignity, there must have been some shortcoming in me," Lallu Singh, the BJP's candidate from Faizabad said, as per Indian Express daily shared footage.

Lallu Singh won twice in Faizabad to parliament in 2014 and 2019 when BJP won 71 and 62 seats in Uttar Pradesh.