Mumbai: Amid probe into the alleged embezzlement of temple funds in Ayodhya, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Friday made major allegations that money from the Ram Mandir donation fund was used to engineer splits in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. He demanded transparency and accountability from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust regarding the contributions made to the temple.
“Around ₹2,000 crore from the donation box has gone missing. These are only preliminary figures mentioned by the SIT. This stolen money enters politics. Money taken from Ram temple donations is being used to buy parties and MPs. It was used to break the AAP, the Trinamool Congress and now six Shiv Sena MPs,” Raut said.
Raut also claimed that Shiv Sena (UBT) had donated ₹ one crore to the Shri Ram Mandir Trust along with more than 25 kg of silver bricks, but alleged that no acknowledgement from the temple trust regarding the offering.
“We donated a cheque of ₹ one crore and more than 25 kg of silver bricks to the trust, but we never received a receipt. Most of the missing valuables are silver items,” he alleged.
Despite several years having passed since the donation was made in the presence of Shiv Sena leaders, party workers and religious figures, there had been no acknowledgement, receipt or communication from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust regarding either the silver brick or the cash donation, he added.
He further claimed that Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and several BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh were being backed despite the allegations. “The main accused are still working in the trust. People who claim to be Hindutvawadi are stealing money from the temple. Crores collected as donations have been siphoned off,” he alleged.
Raut’s allegations came in the wake of the UP Government setting up a Special Investigation Team to probe allegations of embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Till now, eight people have been arrested in connection with the case.
The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya built on the site where the 16th-century Babri Masjid once stood before it was demolished by Hindu kar sevaks in 1992, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024. Spread over 2.7 acres, the three-storey temple has become one of India’s most prominent pilgrimage centres, attracting an estimated five crore visitors annually.
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