Ayodhya: Sadhus ask PM to clarify dubious land deals

The sadhus’ meeting was convened by Mahant Gyan Das of the Hanuman Garhi temple, located near the Ram temple site, at his ashram

Deep Narayan, nephew of Ayodhya’s BJP mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay, bought 890sqm of nazul land (government land leased to someone) for Rs 20 lakh in February and sold it to the temple trust in May for Rs 2.5 crore.: File picture

Piyush Srivastava   |   TT  |   Lucknow   |   26.06.21: Ayodhya’s sadhus have demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi clarify the dubious land deals struck by the Ram temple trust when he addresses a virtual meeting on Saturday with trust members and district officials.

“Several plots bought by individuals a few hours or weeks earlier were sold to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for much higher rates. In at least two instances, the beneficiaries were associated with the BJP,” said Mahant Dharam Das of Nirvani Akhara, who was a plaintiff in the Ayodhya title suit.

“Modi is the Prime Minister and the BJP’s senior-most leader. He must explain why such a scam took place.”

Deep Narayan, nephew of Ayodhya’s BJP mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay, bought 890sqm of nazul land (government land leased to someone) for Rs 20 lakh in February and sold it to the temple trust in May for Rs 2.5 crore.

The local administration has accepted that any transaction of nazul land is illegal.

Sultan Ansari, a property dealer in Ayodhya, bought a 12,080sqm plot in the Bag Bijaisi area on May 18 for Rs 2 crore and sold it to the trust for Rs 18.5 crore the same day. Ansari has said his business partner Ravi Mohan Tiwari is a relative of Upadhyay.

These deals have led to allegations that those who swear by Ram are robbing the trust — assigned by the Supreme Court to build the Ram temple — of funds collected from the government and the public.

“We are sure that Modi would, as usual, keep mum on this issue and discuss peripheral matters,” Dharam Das said.

“However, the sadhus held a meeting in Ayodhya on Friday, demanding Modi speak on this subject and dissolve the trust. He is expected to form a new trust to oversee the temple construction and related issues.”

The sadhus’ meeting was convened by Mahant Gyan Das of the Hanuman Garhi temple, located near the Ram temple site, at his ashram.

“The 150 sadhus at the meeting were unanimous that the Prime Minister must clarify his stand on the land controversies and dissolve the trust,” Gyan Das told reporters.

Mahant Dilip Das, head of the trust that runs the Raghuvansh Sankalp Seva Temple in Ayodhya, said “some people are doing scam after scam in his (Ram’s) name, but we will speak for Ram”.

It’s not clear whether Modi’s virtual meeting would be aired over the Internet or whether there would only be an official media release.

Ayodhya municipal commissioner Vishal Singh confirmed that Modi would address the virtual meeting on Saturday. R.P. Singh, secretary of the Ayodhya Development Authority, said the meeting would start at 11am.

Champat Rai, general secretary of the temple trust, has denied any corruption and claimed the plots have been bought to rehabilitate people who will be displaced during the temple construction. He has not explained the price gaps.

Rai, trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri and trustee Anil Mishra attended an RSS meeting in Mumbai on Thursday. Sources said the RSS believes the land deals should be explained or a defamation suit filed against those alleging corruption.

The temple trust’s members include sadhus, RSS and VHP functionaries, and senior government officials.