LUCKNOW: As allegations of irregularities in the Ram Temple's donation funds intensified, Ayodhya BJP leader Dr Rajnish Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an impartial probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds.
Amid the escalating controversy, Ram Temple Construction Committee Chairman Nripendra Mishra arrived in Ayodhya on Tuesday and held discussions with members of the temple trust.
It may be recalled that former Samajwadi Party MLA from Ayodhya, Pawan Pandey, had alleged that donation money amounting to Rs 7–7.5 crore had been swindled. However, Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai rejected the allegations.
While the Prime Minister's Office has sought a comprehensive report from the Temple Trust on the controversy, Nripendra Mishra, chairman of the temple construction committee and considered a close confidant of Prime Minister Modi, held a four-hour closed-door meeting with members of the temple trust at the Ram Temple complex in Ayodhya on Tuesday.
According to sources, discussions focused on the controversy surrounding the donation funds as well as ongoing temple construction work.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that large sums of donated funds had gone missing and demanded a judicial probe. In response, Mishra, who was originally scheduled to arrive in Ayodhya on June 13, advanced his visit to directly address the allegations along with Trust General Secretary Champat Rai.
Akhilesh Yadav also raised the issue again on X, calling it the "Chadhava Chori Kand" (Offering Theft Scandal), and demanded an impartial investigation to uncover the truth.
He alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government's silence on the issue was suspicious and said the court should take cognisance of the matter.
Akhilesh further urged the temple administration to make CCTV footage public. He also questioned the role of private companies, asking who had decided to involve them between the trust and government banks in the sensitive task of counting offerings.
Earlier, Akhilesh had posted on X that the government's silence was suspicious and that the court should take suo motu cognisance of the matter. Trust General Secretary Champat Rai, however, described the allegations as baseless and maintained that every penny was accounted for.
Countering Rai's clarification, Akhilesh posted on X: "The clarification itself is not clear. It seems this is a routine matter for them every week, and so routine that they do not even consider it noteworthy anymore. The facial expressions and body language are filled with desperation and disappointment."
He further said that all members of the trust should sit together and provide a clarification, with CCTV footage being used to verify the figures.
"As soon as all trustees sit together, the truth will immediately come out, because not everyone among them is the same. It should also be clarified why it took so many hours for a 40-second clarification to come, and why even speaking for one minute in the name of clarification is proving so difficult," Akhilesh posted.
He added that, much like the state government's silence, the clarification was also suspicious and appeared to be a mere formality. According to him, the explanation had only deepened doubts and hurt sentiments within the wider Sanatan community.
