Kejriwal questions PM Modi over Ram Temple Donation case, demands action against ‘main culprits’

AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Ram Temple donations case, alleging major irregularities and claiming only lower-level accused had been arrested. He demanded action against those allegedly responsible and sought accountability from the temple trust

New Delhi: AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the ongoing Ram temple donations case, asserting that only “pawns” had been arrested while the “powerful” individuals involved were being protected.

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal alleged significant corruption related to land purchases, the temple’s construction, and donations from devotees. “It is unacceptable that all this was happening without the prime minister’s knowledge,” he stated.

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“I have learnt from sources that the Intelligence Bureau submitted at least 12 reports to the prime minister explaining how large-scale irregularities were taking place in construction, land transactions and offerings at the Ram Temple. He knew everything, yet remained silent like Dhritarashtra, choosing to turn a blind eye,” Kejriwal alleged.

Kejriwal emphasised that the office bearers of the Ram Mandir Trust were selected by the prime minister. He noted that a home ministry officer is also part of the Trust, questioning why the prime minister failed to intervene to stop the wrongdoing.

“They are hoodwinking us with the arrest of the eight persons; the real people (culprits) are someone else. These eight are merely pawns. I want to ask the prime minister who he is saving and why?” he said. Kejriwal also trained guns at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, questioning why he had not used bulldozers to demolish the homes of those allegedly involved in stealing donations and offending millions.

He further claimed that private individuals sold land valued at Rs 14 crore to the temple Trust for Rs 95 crore and that there were claims of commission being involved in construction work. Referring to the construction of the temple, Kejriwal said,

“Engineers associated with the construction have alleged that they were asked to pay 40 per cent commission on tenders. Did the prime minister not know about this? Theft was caught on CCTV 70 times in just 40 days. Did he not know?” he added. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government submitted its preliminary findings on June 23, following which an FIR was registered on June 25 and eight persons associated with the temple’s donation-counting process were arrested.

Investigators also recorded the statement of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai, who recently offered to resign, taking “moral responsibility”.

His resignation would be considered for formal acceptance in a meeting of the Trust scheduled on July 6.