‘You will tell us what faith is’: Yogi Adityanath says SP, Congress testing Ram bhakts’ patience after Opposition doubles down on SC-monitored probe

Speaking at an event in Deoria, Adityanath said during his visit to Ayodhya on June 19, he had said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe the claims and the government would take action as soon as its report is submitted. “The moment the SIT report came, action started,” he said.

Taking a jibe at the Congress and the SP, he said, “Now you will tell us what faith is? They say faith has been compromised. This is not acceptable. The government, on the very first day, had made it clear that everything will come out.”

“I am telling (Opposition), do not test the patience of Ram bhakts. Stop playing with the faith of Ram bhakts. If you do not have concrete facts, then stop making allegations, counter allegations. And if you have the facts, present it with evidence before the SIT,” he added.

Yogi further said, “The government has been initiating action as per the SIT’s recommendations. And when a team of senior officials is working on it, then stop making political statements.”

The CM also claimed the Opposition had even questioned the existence of Lord Ram. “One of them used to say Lord Ram never existed. They even wanted to deny Ayodhya’s existence. They continued fighting in court with a battery of lawyers against the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and the Ram temple,” he added.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Congress Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Shukla said, “This issue is so big. Champat Rai couldn’t be the only one behind this. So his resignation is not enough. The allegations look to be large-scale and the only way to find out the truth is by an investigation done by a Supreme Court-monitored probe. There are so many questions. Whose directions were those accused in the case working under?”

At a press conference in Delhi, Shukla said the “self-proclaimed protectors of Hinduism” have been completely exposed with the revelations of the theft of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

SP general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav said a “huge theft took place at Lord Ram’s temple”. “There should be a thorough investigation, and the culprits should be given strict punishment,” he said.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose told The Indian Express that the theft of donations had “exposed the moral plank of Hindutva politics of the BJP-RSS”.

Former Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who visited the Ram Temple Friday, said a “major robbery” had taken place and that influential people involved in the alleged embezzlement of donations and gifts were being “protected”.

CPI Rajya Sabha member P Sandosh Kumar said the theft “exposes the complete collapse of oversight and accountability inside the Ram Temple Trust”.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said the main “culprits” of the theft are still working in the Trust. “Those who consider themselves ‘Hindutvawadi’ steal crores of rupees from the temple, and this money enters politics, where you use it to buy MPs and split political parties…”