In a blazing allegation, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav claims that "big names have been spared" in the Ram Mandir donation theft investigation and that ordinary
employees have been sent to jail. Yadav's allegations have come out in the backdrop of the 9-page letter attributed to former General Secretary of the Ram Temple Trust Champat Rai, where he targeted Nripendra Misra—the chairman of the Ram Mandir Construction Committee, over deep internal rifts regarding administrative control and decision-making during the Ayodhya Ram Mandir construction. In the letter, Rai purportedly alleged that Misra exercised "absolute control over the temple's construction". The letter allegedly states that Misra "considered himself the principal authority on all decisions" and that no work progressed without his approval. There were also grave allegations of favouritism within the Temple board, where Rai raised serious objections over the induction of Misra’s preferred individuals into the construction committee, claiming some chosen members rarely visited Ayodhya and did not add real value to the project. Akhilesh Yadav, in his statement asks, "when new things happen, do we forget what happened in the past?" He alleges that ordinary employees were thrown under the bus to protect the big names responsible in the theft. He launched a blazing attack against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government, claiming that "greed controls the minds of the BJP, poor people have been defrauded of their land." In his statement, he also said that he hopes such a theft does not occur again. This statement comes at the same time as the Ram Temple trust's selection of the new CEO of the organisation, as Ex-IAF Officer Jitendra Mishra was named Ram Temple CEO, from a shortlist of three names. According to sources, the meeting also finalised two panel members and the general secretary after considering 5,585 applications. The meeting took place amid the controversy over the alleged theft of offerings and the resignation of Champat Rai, former general secretary of the temple trust. The meeting was held at the residence of Nritya Gopal Das, the Ram Mandir Trust president, in Maniramdas Chhawani. The Ram Mandir "Chanda Chori" controversy erupted earlier in the year, centering around the embezzlement of cash offerings and donations from the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The theft was uncovered via CCTV surveillance footage from the temple’s secure donation-counting rooms. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe revealed that individuals authorised to count cash donations were systematically siphoning off money. The accused were caught hiding stashes of cash inside their pockets, shoes, and clothing during counting sessions. A massive law enforcement response quickly followed the initial disclosures, high profile raids were conducted across multiple locations, targeting the residences of 8 primary accused, leading to massive cash recoveries. The probe also led to a large-scale administrative shake-up. Champat Rai, the high-profile General Secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, faced severe opposition heat and initially stepped down during the probe. He was subsequently given a clean chit by investigators. Both Champat Rai and Anil Mishra eventually stepped down from their administrative positions.
