Ram Temple donation case puts BJP on defensive before Uttar Pradesh vote

India’s Ram Temple in Ayodhya is under investigation after allegations that donations from devotees were misappropriated, Al Jazeera reported. The case has triggered arrests, resignations from the temple trust and a political fight in Uttar Pradesh ahead of state elections expected early next year.

Al Jazeera reported that the allegations surfaced after Mahipal Singh, a former supervisor in the accounting team of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, publicly raised claims of financial irregularities. The trust manages the temple, which opened in January 2024 and has become one of India’s major Hindu pilgrimage sites.

Police case follows public pressure

According to Al Jazeera, opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, accused temple managers of failing to account for millions of rupees in donations. The BJP-led state government then formed a three-member inquiry team, which submitted a report that has not been released publicly, Al Jazeera said.

State police have registered a criminal case and arrested at least eight people, including workers involved in counting cash and valuable offerings at the temple, according to Al Jazeera. The report said more devotees have since asked about items they say they gave to the trust, including silver bricks, gold jewellery and artefacts.

Champat Rai, the trust’s longtime general secretary and a prominent figure in the Ram Temple movement, stepped down on Friday along with other senior trustees, Al Jazeera reported. BJP spokespeople declined to comment to Al Jazeera on the recent allegations.

A sacred site with a long political history

The temple stands where the 16th-century Babri Mosque once stood. Al Jazeera reported that a Hindu mob demolished the mosque in 1992, setting off riots across India that killed nearly 2,000 people, most of them Muslims.

In 2019, India’s Supreme Court awarded the disputed site to Hindus while finding that the mosque demolition was illegal, according to Al Jazeera. The court also allotted land outside Ayodhya for Muslims to build a mosque. In 2020, a court acquitted people accused in the demolition case, citing insufficient evidence, Al Jazeera reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the Ram Temple’s consecration in January 2024, according to Al Jazeera. The temple has been central to the politics of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, whose ideological roots are linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Al Jazeera reported that some executive members of the trust come from the RSS.

Devotee anger reaches BJP supporters

Al Jazeera quoted Ayodhya resident Brajesh Kumar, 65, as saying devotees had been betrayed by temple managers. The report said anger has spread among thousands of devotees, including some BJP supporters.

Santosh Dubey, who was tried and later acquitted in the Babri Mosque demolition case, told Al Jazeera that the alleged corruption had caused him severe anguish. He accused temple managers of creating fear around the institution, according to the report.

Yadav accused the state government of targeting lower-level workers while protecting more powerful figures, Al Jazeera reported. Karpatri Maharaj, a Hindu seer linked to the Ram Temple movement, also told Al Jazeera that junior staff were being used as scapegoats.

Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai told Al Jazeera the allegations could hurt the BJP if more religious leaders speak out. He said the issue is especially sensitive because it concerns faith and because Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is himself from a religious order.

Al Jazeera reported that the BJP lost ground in Uttar Pradesh during the 2024 national election, when it failed to win a parliamentary majority on its own and had to rely on allies to remain in power. The Ram Temple controversy now gives the opposition a potent issue in India’s most populous state.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.