State Bank of India had recommended the removal of officials posted at the donation-counting centre at Ayodhya's Ram Temple three months ago, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera claimed on Monday and asked who was protecting them.
"SBI had recommended three months ago that those posted at the counting centre be removed. Who has been protecting them? Nagpur or Delhi?" Khera told reporters in Raipur.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which is at the centre of the controversy over donations to the temple being allegedly stolen, is dominated by RSS and Vishwa Hindu Parishad luminaries, many of them believed to have been personally approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Insiders claimed the trust had been against the registration of an FIR in the case but buckled under state government pressure.
"Ayodhya ki loot jhanki hai, Kashi-Mathura abhi baaki hai [the loot in Ayodhya in only a glimpse, Kashi and Mathura are pending]," Khera said, twisting the slogan "Ayodhya toh jhanki hai, Kashi-Mathura baaki hai", which had called for a Ram Janmabhoomi-style movement in Kashi and Mathura.
"The RSS and PMO were directly looking after the Ram Mandir administration,” Khera said. “Ask Adityanath, if there has been wrongdoing there, will bulldozers be sent to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's residence or to the PMO? Just ask him this question and he will have no answer."
The Telegraph had reported on Monday that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s aggressive handling of the Ram temple theft case seems to have put him at odds with the BJP central leadership and influential sections of the larger Sangh Parivar.
"Yogiji's commitment to Lord Ram and Sanatan Dharma is unquestionable. He cannot afford to go soft on a theft of this magnitude," a senior BJP leader from Gorakhpur said.
Khera alleged that the BJP was raising issues such as the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to divert public attention from the theft of donations at the Ram Mandir.
"The purpose of the UCC Bill is only to change the headlines and divert attention from what is happening in the name of Lord Ram in Ayodhya," he claimed.
The Congress on Monday staged protests in Bengaluru, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Modi and UP CM Adityanath over the Ram temple donation scam.
The BJP asserted that those accused in the case were facing not only legal action but also social boycott, reflecting what it described as the sentiments of Hindu society.
The ruling party cited a resolution adopted by the Faizabad Bar Association, which decided that none of its members would represent the eight accused arrested in the case and warned that any lawyer violating the decision would face a penalty of Rs 5 lakh.
The party also stressed that chief minister Adityanath had made it clear that exemplary punishment would be meted out to the guilty and speedy justice ensured in accordance with the rule of law.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said those who betray faith or defend such betrayal would never receive the blessings of Hindu society.
