Modi to Open Controversial Temple, Keeping Decades-Old Vow

  • Inauguration comes before the national vote due in 2024
  • Ayodhya has been India’s most polarizing religious site

Construction at the Hindu temple in Ayodhya, India, on July 9. 

Photographer: Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to open a Hindu temple in January where a centuries-old mosque once stood, achieving a pledge made by his nationalist party and that’s now aimed at reinvigorating his base ahead of elections next year.