Ayodhya Ram temple trust reshuffles leadership after donation theft case

NEW DELHI: The trust overseeing India’s Ram temple in Ayodhya has reorganised its leadership after people involved in counting donations were accused of stealing millions of rupees from temple offerings, in a controversy that has drawn opposition criticism ahead of elections due early next year in Uttar Pradesh.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to build the temple, met on Monday and said it had accepted the resignations of General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra. The trust also named an interim secretary and formed a committee to identify candidates for a newly created chief executive post.

The temple was built on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid and was consecrated by Modi in 2024 after decades of dispute. Its construction fulfilled one of the central promises of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which draws much of its support from India’s Hindu majority. The site in Ayodhya, in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, had long been at the centre of a bitter contest. In 1992, the demolition of the 16th-century mosque by a Hindu mob triggered riots across India in which 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

Money recovered after arrests

The trust did not disclose the total amount allegedly stolen. Authorities said that after eight people were arrested last month, nearly eight million Indian rupees had been recovered from seven of them. According to the trust, the temple had received INR5.82 billion in offerings up to March 31.

Speaking to reporters, trust treasurer Govindadev Giri described the matter as deeply embarrassing for the institution.

“This donation theft is a very shameful incident for all of us,” he added.

Political fallout before Uttar Pradesh vote

The alleged theft has handed India’s opposition an issue to raise before the next Uttar Pradesh election. Opposition parties have called for the trust to be dissolved and have urged Modi to address the controversy.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the steps taken so far were not enough.

“The country does not need piecemeal resignations,”

“It deserves a complete dissolution and overhaul of the trust, and every one of its members must face an independent, Supreme Court-supervised investigation.”

Modi, whose party has governed Uttar Pradesh since 2017 but performed poorly there in the 2024 national election, is currently visiting Indonesia and is due to travel onward to Australia and New Zealand.

The BJP has accused the opposition of acting opportunistically by attacking the government over the theft allegations. Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu organisation from which the BJP emerged, urged Hindus to remain patient and restrained to foil the conspiracies of anti-Hindu, anti-national forces who seek to exploit this unfortunate incident to malign Hindu dharma and society.

The land on which the temple stands was awarded to Hindus by India’s Supreme Court in 2019, while the court also ordered that Muslims be given a separate plot.