The Congress has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the alleged embezzlement of donations by members of Ayodhya’s Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust, which was set up by the Centre.
The party’s social media and digital head, Supriya Shrinate, told reporters here on Tuesday: “Prime Minister Modi performed the ground-breaking ceremony (of the Ram temple). He was the one who laid the foundation stone. He was the one who inaugurated it. He was the one who performed the consecration ceremony. Modiji also performed the flag-hoisting. Modiji formed the trust as well. And when the issue of donation theft arose, Modiji was busy receiving an award at a session — an award that even had a spelling error (in the citation).”
She was referring to the “Guardian of the Blue Horizon” award bestowed on
Modi by the government of Seychelles.
“You used to pose as the self-proclaimed custodian of Hindutva, yet today, witnessing the plunder in Lord Ram’s court committed by your own people — people you personally appointed to this trust — you remain silent,” Shrinate added.
Shrinate said Modi had formed the trust, handpicked its members and kept it outside the ambit of the Right to Information Act. “So, having done all that — now donations are being stolen.... Have all your (intelligence) agencies completely collapsed? On what basis were the trust members appointed? Just because they were affiliated with the RSS? And with such a grave transgression occurring right under their noses, what legitimacy does this trust retain now?” she said, asking when the Prime Minister would “break his silence”.
Rajnath under fire
Congress MP K.C. Venugopal has written to Speaker Om Birla demanding that privilege proceedings be initiated against defence minister Rajnath Singh for “misleading” the House on Operation Sindoor.
He quoted Rajnath’s statement on July 28, 2025: “If you want to question, then ask whether our soldiers were harmed in this Operation. The answer is ‘no’”.
“However, contrary to the statement, a statement has been released that... six armed forces personnel had died during Operation Sindoor,” Venugopal said. “In view of the foregoing, I request that privilege proceedings may be initiated against the minister of defence in the matter.”
The defence ministry had last week clarified that Rajnath’s comments must be seen in its entitety and were directed at countering false claims about loss of Indian pilots.