The politics of Uttar Pradesh has heated up after allegations of scam on the land purchased by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the construction of the temple in Ayodhya. These allegations of scam have been made by the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and former Samajwadi Party MLA from Ayodhya and former minister Pawan Pandey. Since then, accusations and counter-accusations have been made by all the Opposition parties and trusts.
Reacting to such accusations, Ayodhya Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay said: “The construction work of the mandir of Shri Ram is going on. At this time, the whole country wants to build its house in Ayodhya. The Uttar Pradesh government is also running a 1,200-acre master plan in Ayodhya, on which work is going on at a fast pace. The land near the railway station was decided by the Trust. The land allotted was less than the market rate. According to the circle rate, that land was worth Rs 24 crore. We got that land for Rs 18.5 crore. There has been an agreement sale since 2011. This was not a day’s work, the allegation is baseless.”
Upadhyay added: “The land was in the name of Sultan Ansari’s father in 2011. Renewal took place in 2014, 2017 and 2019. After 2019, when the verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi came, the price of land in Ayodhya started increasing rapidly. Sultan Ansari is a resident of Ramkot. Ansari gave the land in the name of Lord Ram. I am only a witness. There are many such lands in which I am a witness, Kaushalya Bhawan, etc.”
Asked whether he was a witness in the land purchase of Sultan Ansari and the Trust also, Rishikesh Upadhyay said: “I am a witness in the purchase of many temples. The witness is only for the fact that you took so much money in lieu of the land. The witness has nothing to do with the rest of the work.”
But Opposition parties have leveled a volley of accusations. Addressing a press conference virtually on Monday, Randeep Surjewala, general secretary of the Congress, said, “The trust was established on the direction of the Supreme Court and now the court should take cognisance of the issue and investigate the matter.” He said the court should audit all the accounts and make public the report including the purchase of the land. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, too, attacked the people involved in the deal and said in a tweet, “The misuse of contribution is disrespect to crores of devotees’ faith.”
Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Monday accused the Ram temple trust of buying a piece of land for the proposed shrine inAyodhya at an inflated price. “The Ram Janmabhoomi Trust has purchased a piece of land in Ayodhya for Rs 18.5 crore. It was sold for just Rs 2 crore five minutes before it was bought by the Ram temple trust. There has been a scam in purchasing this land for the pious work of building the Ram temple. The Trust must clarify why the land was bought at such a high price,” he said at a press conference in Delhi.
The allegation on the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is that they have purchased land for the temple of Rs 18.5 crore which was purchased at Rs 2 crore. But the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has strongly denied allegations of corruption levelled by opposition parties, in land purchase. A statement, signed by Trust secretary Champat Rai, said, “After the Supreme Court order, a lot of people started coming to Ayodhya to purchase land, and as the UP government is also purchasing a lot of land for development works, the land price increased suddenly. The land on which discussion has started is very close to the railway station and, therefore, is at a very important location. All the land purchased by the Trust is purchased at a price much lower than the market price.”
Asked if the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress are raising this issue ahead of the elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Mayor of Ayodhya said: “Absolutely. This is a political conspiracy. This is a conspiracy to mislead the country. Chief Minister Yogiji did a good job regarding corona pandemic crisis control. This is the anger of the Opposition parties. If nothing can be found, then raise this issue.”
Asked about an investigation, he said: “Absolutely. The difference between the truth and lies will emerge. These people do not believe in Ram. These people are shocked by the popularity of Yogiji.”