The Ram Temple in Ayodhya, built on the site where the centuries-old Babri Masjid once stood, has long been projected as the ‘crowning achievement’ of the BJP, the RSS and the VHP. For more than three decades, the Ram Janmabhoomi movement served as the ideological engine of the Sangh Parivar’s political mobilisation, transforming India’s electoral landscape and reshaping the country’s political discourse. Presented as a symbol of Hindu cultural resurgence and a political triumph, the temple became the centrepiece of the BJP’s ideological narrative.
Today, however, that flagship project finds itself engulfed in one of its gravest crises, not because of ideological opposition or electoral setbacks, but because of allegations that devotees’ donations may have been siphoned off by individuals entrusted with safeguarding them.
An investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government has reportedly uncovered serious procedural lapses in the handling of donations at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Eight individuals associated with counting cash and valuables have been arrested, while investigators continue probing allegations of financial irregularities. The exact amount allegedly misappropriated and the full modus operandi remain under investigation.
Whatever the investigation ultimately establishes, the controversy has struck at the heart of a project built on public faith. Millions of devotees contributed cash, jewellery, gold, silver and other offerings believing their donations would be managed with the highest standards of integrity and transparency. Allegations that the system entrusted with protecting those offerings may itself have been compromised have inevitably raised disturbing questions about accountability, governance and institutional oversight.
At the centre of the controversy is Champat Rai, one of the most influential figures associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and the General Secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. A veteran RSS pracharak and senior VHP functionary, Rai played a pivotal organisational role in the movement that culminated in the construction of the Ram Temple.
Amid mounting scrutiny over the alleged embezzlement of donations, reports indicate that Rai and Trust member Anil Mishra have tendered their resignations. The Trust, however, has maintained that all jewellery, silver bricks and other valuables offered by devotees remain safe and fully accounted for. It says an FIR was registered on the basis of the SIT’s interim report and has denied any institutional wrongdoing beyond the matters currently under investigation.
According to investigators, Ramashankar Yadav, alias Tinnu Yadav, a former driver of Champat Rai, allegedly retained the keys to several donation boxes in violation of established procedures. Investigators suspect that cash from the hundis under his control may have been siphoned off because prescribed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were allegedly ignored. Authorities are still attempting to determine precisely how the alleged misappropriation was carried out.
The controversy has been further inflamed by allegations made by Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, the controversial head priest of the Dasna Devi Temple in Uttar Pradesh and a former associate of Champat Rai. In a video interview that has gone viral on social media, Narsinghanand accused Rai of moral corruption and alleged that he had sexual relations with young boys. These allegations have not been independently verified, and no court has established their veracity.
For the BJP, the controversy could hardly have come at a worse time. With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due in February next year, allegations of embezzlement carry significant political implications. The Ram Temple has been the party’s most powerful political and ideological symbol for over three decades, enabling it to move from the margins of Indian politics to the centre of national power. It has served as the ideological cornerstone of the BJP’s political project. Allegations of financial irregularities involving devotees’ offerings therefore strike at the credibility of one of the party’s most emotionally resonant campaigns.
The Political Backlash
The Congress has demanded the dissolution of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and called for a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the alleged embezzlement. Escalating its attack on the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, the party has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over what it describes as a massive scandal involving devotees’ donations.
Senior Congress leaders Akhilesh Pratap Singh and Rajeev Shukla argue that because the Trust was constituted following the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya judgment and is closely associated with the BJP’s flagship political project, accountability cannot stop with the arrest of lower-level employees.
Taking a swipe at the BJP, Rajeev Shukla remarked, “Earlier they looted votes in the name of Lord Ram; now they are looting notes in Lord Ram’s name.” Referring to the BJP’s slogan, “Jo Ram ko laaye hain, hum unkolaayenge,” he asked what action should now be taken against those “who have looted Lord Ram.”
The Congress has also questioned why opposition politicians often face swift action by central investigative agencies while influential figures associated with the Trust appear to enjoy greater protection.
Other opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have similarly demanded wider investigations, arguing that the arrest of lower-level employees does not adequately explain the reported scale of the alleged financial irregularities.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged that authorities had failed to investigate what he described as the theft of more than ₹200 crore from the Ram Temple’s donation boxes.
“The amount stolen from the Ram Temple donation boxes exceeds ₹200 crore. More than 50 employees are reportedly involved. During the Kumbh, reports emerged of thefts ranging from ₹15 lakh to ₹20 lakh every day. So far, nine people have been arrested and cash has been recovered from their homes. Despite this, no action has been taken against the main individuals responsible.”
These allegations remain disputed, and official investigations are continuing.
The controversy has also revived scrutiny of earlier allegations concerning land transactions linked to the Ram Temple project – allegations consistently denied by those involved but repeatedly cited by critics as evidence of inadequate oversight of the Trust’s functioning.
According to sources familiar with the SIT’s preliminary findings, several mandatory Standard Operating Procedures governing the counting of donations were allegedly ignored. These reportedly included inadequate frisking of staff, the absence of mandatory security personnel during cash counting, and the preservation of CCTV footage for only 45 days instead of the prescribed 180 days. Investigators have also questioned why one individual allegedly possessed keys to multiple donation boxes – a departure from established protocols that may have facilitated the alleged irregularities. These findings remain part of an ongoing investigation.
The legal battle has now reached the Supreme Court, where petitioners have sought a CBI-led multidisciplinary investigation along with stronger statutory oversight of the Trust. They argue that, irrespective of the investigation’s eventual findings, only an inquiry that is demonstrably independent and transparent can restore public confidence.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson and Chairman of the AICC Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera sought to link the Ayodhya controversy with broader allegations of impropriety involving BJP leaders. Alongside Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president Jitu Patwari, Khera alleged that largescale land purchases by family members of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had taken place under the patronage of the BJP and the RSS. Invoking the phrase “Sangham Sharanam Gachchhami,” Khera suggested that those accused of land grabbing enjoyed the protection of the Sangh while criticising the RSS for, in his words, seeking authority without corresponding accountability.
Khera further alleged that the BJP had betrayed the religious faith of millions of devotees. According to him, just as families of influential politicians allegedly benefited from advance knowledge of development projects in Ujjain, those entrusted with managing the Ram Temple had failed to protect offerings made by devotees in good faith.
The Congress compared the Ujjain land transactions to insider trading, alleging that privileged access to information had been misused for private gain. The BJP has rejected these allegations.
The controversy has also revived criticism from opposition parties over what they describe as the BJP’s reluctance to demand accountability from its own leaders. Critics point to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s refusal to resign over the Ujjain land controversy, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan remaining in office following the NEET paper leak controversy, and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri continuing in office despite reports linking his name to documents associated with the Epstein files. Opposition leaders frequently cite Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s reported remark that there is ‘no word called resignation’ in the BJP’s political dictionary as emblematic of the party’s approach to political accountability.
The Ram Temple itself remains inseparable from one of the most contentious chapters in modern Indian history. It stands on the site where the 16th-century Babri Masjid stood until it was demolished on 6 December 1992 by Hindutvaextremist mob led by senior BJP and allied movement leaders, including L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. In its 2019 Ayodhya judgment, the Supreme Court unequivocally described the demolition as ‘an egregious violation of the rule of law’. Although the Court ultimately awarded the disputed land for the construction of the Ram Temple, it simultaneously held that the demolition of the mosque was unlawful.
For critics of the BJP and the RSS, the donation controversy has deepened concerns over the moral and political legacy of a movement built in the name of faith. They argue that allegations of financial irregularities involving devotees’ offerings have cast an uncomfortable shadow overthe integrity of BJP and RSS leaders.Theyunderlinedthat it wasyet another starkexample ofmoral decay in the rank and file of theBJP and RSS.