Congress leader Pawan Khera
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday (July 13, 2026) reiterated his party’s demand for a time-bound inquiry supervised by a sitting Supreme Court Judge into the Ayodhya Ram Temple donation embezzlement row. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of indulging in “daylight dacoity” by building a “business model around temples.”
Addressing a press conference in the Kerala capital, Mr. Khera, who heads the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) media and publicity wing, demanded a “complete forensic audit” of accounts, donations, offerings and land deals, accusing the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust of betraying the trust of the people. “The Trust should be dissolved and replaced with one that has reputable individuals and the Shankaracharyas in it,” he said.
“If the government has nothing to hide why are they running away from our demand (for an indpeendent probe)? People do not have much faith in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation. People want an independent inquiry,” he said.
While the RSS and BJP leaders took credit for constructing the temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS and BJP leaders have remained silent after the allegations regarding the alleged donations theft emerged, he said.
“Why is the Prime Minister quiet? You can’t arrest junior officers, junior employees and allow senior people who were supposed to be watchdogs to get away scot-free. That is what is happening in Ayodhya. There is an attempt to protect someone; whether that someone is in Delhi or Nagpur, we don’t know,” he said.
If everything was transparent, why were its former general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra removed and eight or nine people arrested? asked Mr. Khera.
According to Mr. Khera, a private company was willing to construct the temple free of charge. A stone supplier from Rajasthan also had offered to supply stone free of cost. But the Trust had not accepted these offers. Also, it purchased land 7-8 km away from the temple at eight times the market price, Mr. Khera alleged.
Published – July 13, 2026 02:10 pm IST
