Lucknow: The controversy surrounding the alleged Ram Mandir donation racket intensified on Tuesday after Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai said he was placed under police custody in Ayodhya when he went there to visit the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, and his wife later said the family had not been told where he was being held.
The Congress charged that authorities moved to stop its leaders from offering prayers at the temple and accused the Uttar Pradesh government of using policing powers to block a religious visit, as reported by The Statesman. The party demanded the immediate release of those detained.
In a post on X, Rai said he was arrested from his hotel shortly after arriving in Ayodhya.
Allegations Against State Government
Describing the action as evidence of the BJP government’s “dictatorship”, Rai alleged that the government was trying to stop Congress leaders from visiting the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.
“The dictatorship of the BJP government is at its peak! A delegation from the Uttar Pradesh Congress was scheduled to visit Ayodhya today, June 30th, to offer prayers and seek the blessings of Lord Shri Ram. As soon as I arrived in Ayodhya, the BJP government panicked so much that the police arrested me from my hotel and are taking me away in their jeep,” Rai wrote.
He also accused the state government of being involved in land-related irregularities and the alleged theft of temple offerings.
“We will neither stop nor bow down!” he said.
Family Alarm, Demands Clarity
Rai’s wife, Rina Rai, told viewers in a video shared on Ajay Rai’s X account that the family had been kept in the dark after he was taken into custody. She accused the BJP of trying to silence her husband and said party workers were being given misleading information about his whereabouts.
“The BJP government is ready to stoop to any depths to silence my husband’s voice! After being taken away in a police jeep, now our colleagues are being misled with false information. Our fight against the ‘offering thieves’ will continue. If anything happens to my husband, the full responsibility will lie with this unjust BJP government,” she said.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress further said that Neeraj Tripathi, the party’s Pratapgarh district president who was with Rai, had also been detained by police.
In a separate post on X, the party asked whether visiting the Ram Temple had been criminalised in the state.
It said that Lord Ram belonged to the nation’s faith and culture, not to any single political party, and called the police action unconstitutional while demanding that all detained Congress leaders be freed and permitted to visit the temple unimpeded.
Donation Probe
The episode comes against the backdrop of a probe into alleged misappropriation of donations at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple.
On Monday, a local court in Ayodhya ordered that all accused in the donation case be remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, following an investigation by the Uttar Pradesh Police into claimed financial irregularities and suspected siphoning of temple donations and offerings.
Relatives of the accused later visited the Ayodhya District Jail, where those charged are currently lodged.
The alleged donation scam has become a flashpoint in Uttar Pradesh politics, with the BJP and opposition parties exchanging accusations while a Special Investigation Team continues its inquiry.
