New Delhi: Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad on Monday demanded a probe into the ‘grand scale’ buying of land in and around Ayodhya after the Supreme Court’s November 2019 verdict that led to the construction of the Ram Temple, Scroll reported.
The Lok Sabha MP from Faizabad constituency, which includes the Ayodhya Assembly segment, told Lok Sabha that “Irregularities were done in the land [deals].”
Prasad alleged on Monday that ‘There is one piece of land worth Rs 2 crore that was sold for Rs 18 crore,’ adding ‘Those buyers are none other than BJP people. They destroyed farmers. That is why the public is upset.’
Prasad sought for a parliamentary committee to probe the alleged irregularities, and called for the report to be tabled in the House to ‘make things clear’, emphasizing the need to identify the buyers of the lands.
It is reported earlier by The Indian Express that following the Supreme Court verdict there has been 30 percent rise in land transactions in 25 villages in Ayodhya and villages in Gonda and Basti districts located within 15 km of the Ram Temple.
Many transactions are reportedly linked to politicians, senior government officials and their relatives.
The land rush has attracted larger firms such as Adani Group and Lodha, creating local beneficiaries often having links to the BJP, Scroll reported in January.
Meanwhile, Prasad accused the BJP of cheating the people of Ayodhya by not mentioning the district or Uttar Pradesh in the Union Budget presented on July 23.
He alleged that “The BJP has done politics and business in the name of Ayodhya,” adding “With a pained heart I am saying this today that the development of Ayodhya has been completely neglected because I am a Dalit.”
Prasad defeated the BJP’s Lallu Singh by over 50,000 votes wining the Faizabad constituency in the recent general election.
He claimed that the BJP was rejected completely in the polls because ‘whether it is Ram Path or aerodrome or any other construction, people’s houses have been demolished using bulldozers.’