Each morning, Hindu devotees from around India come to Ayodhya to pray near where a historic mosque was demolished by religious zealots three decades ago, sparking inter-faith riots that killed thousands of people.

The centuries-old Babri Masjid was demolished, shaking the country's secular foundations and paving the way for Hindu nationalism to become the country's main political force.

Workers are currently building a Hindu shrine where the mosque formerly stood, and Muslims are concerned that similar efforts could be repeated elsewhere in India's most populous state following the upcoming election.

"This is no ordinary temple," Anil Mishra, a member of the trust overseeing the construction project, told AFP. "This is a national temple that carries the emotions and feelings of the masses."

The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was influential in the campaign against the mosque, which was erected by the Muslim Mughal monarchy that dominated most of the Indian subcontinent centuries ago.

Since its desecration in 1992, the Party has vigorously supported the construction of a Hindu temple in its place, as well as the restoration of several other sacred sites. 

It is now relying on efforts to portray itself as the "keeper" of India's majority faith in order to win re-election in Uttar Pradesh, which will vote in marathon seven-week polls beginning Thursday.

- 'They have jailed young Muslims' -

According to political commentators, Uttar Pradesh is a breeding ground for hardline Hindu rule and the cutting edge of the BJP's ambitions to remake secular India into a Hindu state.

Yogi Adityanath, the state's chief minister, has been accused of inciting vigilantism against the state's Muslim population and enacting discriminatory legislation to marginalize the group.

The 49-year-old saffron-robed hardliner is notorious for his aggressive religious language and is seen as a potential successor to Modi, who is over two decades his elder.

His administration has pushed legislation to make interfaith marriages more difficult and shuttered Muslim-run slaughterhouses to protect cows, which are considered sacred in Hinduism, while detractors claim he has turned a blind eye to mob violence directed at anyone accused of consuming beef.

The city of Mathura, near the capital New Delhi, is widely believed to be the birthplace of Krishna, an important divinity, and Hindu hardliners claim that a mosque built during the Mughal era partially covered a temple to the deity.

Senior BJP members have hinted that another religious clash in the city is on the horizon.

"Grand temple construction ongoing in Ayodhya...(now) getting ready for Mathura," Yogi's deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya said last month. 

Muslims in the city are already enraged after years of discrimination by the BJP, and they are scared of the consequences of another electoral triumph.

As extremism against Muslims rages on in #India, the government is dismissing repetitive threats to cleanse India's minorities.
More dangerously, experts warn of signs of a potential genocide that could happen soon against #Muslims who constitute 15% of India's population. pic.twitter.com/zoqmybWmoh

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 19, 2022

"They have jailed young Muslims for treason, are stopping us from eating what we want, and have compounded our job losses by shutting meat shops and restaurants," said resident Mohammad Yameen. 

Pride in what?

Following the Covid-19 outbreak, Uttar Pradesh has been hit hard by India's subsequent economic crisis, with massive unemployment.

The BJP, on the other hand, has managed to rally support from legions of Hindu devotees who have hailed the party for fulfilling its commitment to construct the Ayodhya temple.

"We are really happy and hope that it is a grand structure," said Kusum Gupta, 59, a pilgrim who traveled more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to visit the site.

Champat Rai, a member of the trust in charge of the temple's construction, said the temple's completion was the result of "500 years of struggle" and was on par with India's freedom from the British in terms of national significance.

Rai told AFP that the temple will be a "symbol of national pride and self-respect," and that the mosque's demolition would symbolically shake off the historical shackles of Muslim control during the Mughal Empire.

Anti-Muslim politician with criminal record could be India's next PM

A monk known for his controversial anti-Muslim rhetoric leads the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into Thursday elections in India's most populous state -- Uttar Pradesh -- where a strong win could put him in pole position to succeed Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Yogi Adityanath, 49, has stirred controversy since his surprise appointment in 2017 as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India home to over 200 million people.

The Indian office has done nothing to temper his views, and as he seeks a second term, he is calling on Hindu voters to back the BJP while going vicious over Muslims who make up one-fifth of the state's population.