New Delhi: Ayodhya Verdict is not just a legal decision but a politically significant issue. By not allowing a retake of the 1994 verdict of the Ismail Farooqui case that held that a mosque is not essential for offering namaz in Islam, a major hurdle has been removed to settle the title suit of Ram Janam Bhoomi and a massive delay avoided.  

With the 2019 general election in sight, BJP wants to use this momentum electorally, particularly in the Hindi heartland. On the other hand, Congress has been extremely cautious in reacting to the issue in spite of their new found zeal for soft Hindutva. 

This is how politicians, lawyers and luminaries reacted through the day:

Shakeel Ahmed Syed, the lawyer of the Sunni Wakf Board conceded that there's no way the day's events can be challenged but he also refused to term it as a letdown.

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On the other hand, Dr VP Sharma, representing Mahant Advaitanath sounded upbeat about a resolution of the long-awaited issue at the earliest.

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The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and an ultra Hindutva face of BJP welcomed the verdict. With resentment setting in among its core voters in Uttar Pradesh, he hoped for an early solution.

Another Hindutva face of BJP, Subramanian Swamy hailed the decision as a 'victory of Ram bhakts'. He himself is a party to the case and earlier sought day to day hearing which was turned down.

Uma Bharti, who had a case against her for allegedly being a party to the demolition of Babri masjid too welcomed the verdict today. 

Rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra was sharp in reacting. 

Interestingly, a self-proclaimed descendant of Bahadur Shah Zafar apologised on behalf of his ancestors for demolishing the original structure.

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But it's this Bengal BJP leader, who put it succinctly and simply as: 

Will today's verdict predict the results of the 2019 elections? Too premature to say, but it will definitely play a decisive role in the political discussion in the next few months leading up to them.