India's Congress Party has called for a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into allegations of embezzlement in the donations received for the construction of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a post on social media, accused members of the BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) of evading responsibility despite their involvement in the temple's management. He claimed that people associated with these organizations were in charge of the temple trust, construction work, donation collection, counting of offerings, and bank deposits. Ramesh demanded a widening of the investigation beyond the eight employees arrested in the case to include everyone responsible for the temple's functioning.
Citing earlier complaints and media reports, Ramesh questioned the role of trust officials and accused them of irregularities in handling offerings. He alleged that former accounts officer Mahipal Singh, who was associated with the RSS and reportedly detected irregularities, was removed instead of those responsible being held accountable. Ramesh also pointed to reports of Deenanath Verma, the engineer overseeing construction, demanding a 40% commission for work at the trust office.
Ramesh questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had remained silent on the alleged theft of donations. He recalled PM Modi's announcement of the formation of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in 2020, alleging that details of the selection criteria and deliberations were not made public. Ramesh also questioned the handling of the Special Investigation Team's findings and whether the first report had been handed to the same trust whose office-bearers were facing allegations of corruption. He demanded that the report be made public.
The Congress Party's calls come after a nearly 70,000-page chargesheet was filed against eight arrested people in the temple donation embezzlement case, which named Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu. The case was registered in June following a preliminary investigation flagging suspected diversion of temple donations. Reports suggest that the SIT identified 105 instances of unauthorized removal or concealment of offerings.