Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made several scathing allegations of 'loot' and corruption in the BJP government's handling of the proposed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, claiming that there was a scam in the land deal and that the Supreme Court should order a probe into the land deals engaged in by the Ram Mandir Trust. The statements were made at a press conference in New Delhi.
Alleging corruption and misuse of funds, Priyanka said that land with a value of ₹2 crore was sold to the Trust for ₹26.5 crore in 2017. 2.33 hectare land was purchased for ₹2 crore and this was waqf land. An FIR was also registered in this connection in 2018, she said during the media briefing which was also attended by Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala.
"On March 18, 2021 at 6.51 p.m. 10.37 sq yard was sold to the Trust for Rs 8 crore through its secretary Champat Rai. The remaining 12,000 sq m was sold at 7.10 p.m. for Rs 2 crore and the same land was sold to the Trust after 5 minutes for Rs 18.5 crore. In all the three sale deeds, Anil Mishra and Rishikesh Upadhyay, who is the Ayodhya Mayor, were witnesses," Priyanka claimed.
She emphasised that the sale deeds were in the names of the Ram Mandir Trust members and that Anil Mishra, a member of the RSS and a member of the Trust and Rishikesh Upadhyay, Mayor of Ayodhya were witnesses in the document.
"Uttar Pradesh government said yesterday that they were ordering a probe. Who is conducting the probe? A district-level officer… Now you have the Mayor as a witness on a sale deed… Obviously, you are not expecting an inquiry to take place… A district-level officer cannot hold an inquiry against a mayor," she said.
She also made allegations that several pieces of land, which belonged to lower-caste people, were 'grabbed' by force and sold. Priyanka said that almost every household in the state had donated something to the Ram Mandir construction and that the government owed a moral responsibility to these people to ensure there was no loot of funds.
"Bhagwan Ram is a symbol of honesty and the BJP-backed leaders and officers have profited from the trust meant for the temple construction," she said.