Ayodhya: UP Congress chief Ajay Rai allegedly placed under house arrest ahead of Ram temple visit

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai was allegedly placed under house arrest at a hotel in Ayodhya on Monday, a day before a party delegation was to visit the Ram temple, IANS reported.

This came against the backdrop of a row about the alleged embezzlement of donations made to the temple.

On Monday night, Rai alleged on social media that he had been “arrested” from the hotel and taken away in a police vehicle.

In a video posted on social media, his wife Rina Rai claimed that he had been arrested and that the family had not been informed where he was being taken. “His life is under threat from the government,” she alleged.

The Uttar Pradesh Congress claimed that its Pratapgarh district chief Neeraj Tripathi had also been placed under house arrest or detained without any reason being given.

The state unit said that the Bharatiya Janata Party government “must stop its repressive policy, immediately release” the Congress leaders who have been placed under house arrest.

The party leaders should be allowed to go to Ayodhya “without any hindrance”, the Congress said.

A Congress delegation led by Rai was scheduled to offer prayers at the Ram temple on Tuesday.

Congress MPs Kishori Lal Sharma, Rakesh Rathor, Ujjwal Raman Singh and Tanuj Punia, and former Barabanki MP SP Gautam, former MLC Deepak Singh, former Maharajganj MLA Virendra Chaudhary and former Barabanki MLA Mita Gautam are expected to be part of the delegation.

The party had informed the administration about the visit.

Ram temple donation ‘theft’ row

On June 25, a first information report was filed in the alleged embezzlement of donations to the Ram temple against eight persons. The FIR was based on a complaint by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the temple. All eight accused have been arrested.

A day later, the trust’s general secretary, Champat Rai, and trustee Anil Mishra resigned from their posts on “moral grounds” amid the controversy.

This came after the Special Investigation Team probing the alleged irregularities at the Ram temple submitted on June 23 its preliminary report to the Uttar Pradesh government. The contents of the report have not been made public.

However, unidentified persons aware of its contents told The Indian Express that the report highlights alleged lapses, inadequate supervision and negligence in the handling, maintenance and counting of donated cash and valuables.

The government said that the investigating team would continue its work and submit a final report after 15 days.

The team was set up by the state government on June 14 following a request from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

Opposition leaders and a whistleblower have claimed that cash and jewellery offerings made by devotees had been embezzled by temple staffers under the trust’s watch.

The Ram temple in Ayodhya was built on the site of the Babri Masjid, which was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on the spot where the Hindu deity Ram was born.

In 2019, the Supreme Court held that the demolition of the Babri mosque was illegal, but handed over the land to a trust for a Ram temple to be constructed. At the same time, it directed that a five-acre plot in Ayodhya be allotted to Muslims for a mosque to be built.

The Ram temple was inaugurated in a ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

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