‘Devotees feel betrayed’: Rahul Gandhi, Kharge write to PM Modi, seek probe into Ram temple donation theft

The Congress leaders said the matter had shaken public confidence and argued that the prime minister’s silence was “unacceptable”.

Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the Congress’s Leaders of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, respectively, on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an “independent and comprehensive” probe into the alleged theft of donations at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya and calling his continued silence on the issue “unacceptable”

“Your silence now in the face of such a crime is unacceptable. It is your duty to ensure accountability and restitution.” They said the credibility of the government and the Trust rests on “how transparently and swiftly you act,” and that “the people of India are watching,” the two leaders wrote in the letter.

The letter comes close to a month after an FIR was registered on June 25 over the alleged embezzlement of temple donations, following which the Trust’s general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra resigned, citing moral responsibility. The Uttar Pradesh government has since extended the tenure of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter by 15 days.

Kharge and Gandhi noted that Modi had announced the formation of the Trust in Parliament on the directions of the Supreme Court, but that its members “have been solely appointed” by his government. They said it is “public knowledge” that Trust members are affiliated with the RSS, the VHP and its affiliates, and that its “disgraced” former general secretary was Modi’s “close associate.”“Your silence now in the face of such a crime is unacceptable. It is your duty to ensure accountability and restitution.” They said the credibility of the government and the Trust rests on “how transparently and swiftly you act,” and that “the people of India are watching,” the two leaders wrote in the letter.

The letter comes close to a month after an FIR was registered on June 25 over the alleged embezzlement of temple donations, following which the Trust’s general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra resigned, citing moral responsibility. The Uttar Pradesh government has since extended the tenure of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter by 15 days.

Kharge and Gandhi noted that Modi had announced the formation of the Trust in Parliament on the directions of the Supreme Court, but that its members “have been solely appointed” by his government. They said it is “public knowledge” that Trust members are affiliated with the RSS, the VHP and its affiliates, and that its “disgraced” former general secretary was Modi’s “close associate.”

The Trust was set up in February 2020 after the Supreme Court, in its November 2019 verdict, directed the Centre to constitute a body within three months for the construction of the temple at the disputed site.

According to the SIT’s preliminary findings, nearly 70 instances of theft took place over roughly 40 days, with footage reportedly showing individuals removing cash while counting donations. Eight people, including Champat Rai’s former driver Ram Shankar Yadav, have been arrested so far.

The letter is the second such communication to the PM’s office this month. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal earlier wrote to Modi alleging that preliminary investigations pointed to a “well-organised network” behind the embezzlement and sought a Supreme Court-monitored probe.