Ram temple row: Cong accuses BJP-RSS of 'whitewashing theft', says PM must break 'silence'

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) The Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP-RSS of "whitewashing" the theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya in order to protect the "real culprits" and demanded that details of all offerings be made public as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his "silence" on this issue. The opposition party also alleged that the SIT of Uttar Pradesh government has been formed to "protect" bigwigs in the alleged embezzlement of donations and no one will believe in its report unless an independent Supreme Court-monitored investigation is carried out. Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot demanded that the prime minister breaks his silence on the issue and the Ram temple trust be dissolved and a fresh one with religious leaders be formed. He also claimed that the true "chaal, charitra aur chehra" (conduct, character and face) of the BJP, RSS and VHP now stand exposed. Gehlot accused the BJP-RSS of having "captured" the administration of the temple in an "unauthorised manner". Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the "theft" of donations is a "grave betrayal of the faith" of crores of people of the country. "The people of the country believe that through resignations and limited action, an attempt is being made to cover-up the entire matter and protect the real culprits and big players," Ramesh said in a post in Hindi on X. Reiterating the demands of the Congress, he said the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust be immediately dissolved and a new trust be formed including Shankaracharyas, Dharmacharyas, saints, and religious representatives. "The public has no faith in the Uttar Pradesh government's SIT. The investigation of the case should be conducted independently under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge," he said. Ramesh further demanded that a complete account of the cash and material donations received for the Ram temple be made public. He also said Modi should break his silence on this issue. Addressing a press conference here, Gehlot reiterated the party's demands that the the trust should be dissolved, a probe under the supervision of a sitting judge of the Supreme Court be carried out, and the details of the donations made to the Ram temple by the people be made public to ensure transparency. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come forward on this issue but is not doing so," he said. Gehlot said the BJP-RSS ran the Ram temple movement for decades and it is because of that they were able to come to power. "There is a sentiment of betrayal among the people due to the events that have happened," he said. "You have the double engine government and then you say it is mere negligence. First they stated nothing happened, then they formed an SIT, then lodged an FIR, then there were resignations. There are attempts to whitewash the whole issue," Gehlot said. "Their real face has come to the fore, their 'chaal, charitra and chehra' is before the people. The BJP-RSS have captured the temple administration in an unauthorised manner," he alleged. Gehlot claimed current attempts at a cover-up are happening because 70 such incidents have come up in just 42 days. "Unless the SIT operates under the supervision and monitoring of a Supreme Court judge, no one is going to place any faith in it. That is my firm belief. It is a clear-cut case: once the theft was exposed, the immediate response should have been to dissolve the trust," the former chief minister said. He claimed that instead, they first claimed nothing had happened and then registered an FIR and formed an SIT, and resignations were submitted and subsequently accepted. "Unless the trust is dissolved and the SIT functions under Supreme Court supervision, the country will not trust the process," he noted. Gehlot's remarks came a day after the Ram temple trust on Monday accepted the resignations of Champat Rai as its general secretary and member Anil Mishra in the wake of the donation theft row. Trustee Krishna Mohan has been named as interim general secretary. Promising to overhaul the donation system and restore the faith of devotees, the trust also announced the formation of a three-member search committee to identify a chief executive officer (CEO) for the temple trust. The Congress on Monday said that by accepting the resignations of Rai and Mishra, the trust has effectively accepted that the 'chanda chori' reports were true. PTI ASK SKC ZMN