NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav Friday flayed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which appears to be on the defensive, after the arrest of eight people in the Ayodhya Ram Temple fund embezzlement case.Launching full frontal attack on the BJP, which lend political support to the Ram Mandir movement, Akhilesh Yadav said the arrest in the embezzlement case would lead to the “downfall” of the party’s “glittering empire built on arrogance”.“The mask of those claiming to be devotees has finally slipped, as Lord Ram’s divine justice has prevailed,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister wrote. Akhilesh claimed the unravelling of the case was only “chapter one of the reckoning” and that the fallout would only intensify, with the BJP and its affiliates, “including the RSS”, beginning to “expose one another”.“Along with the PM CARES Fund, even unregistered entities will now have to account for their actions. The ‘BJP and the gang’ will not escape the God’s audit,” he said.
Akhilesh Yadav’s X post
Akhilesh’s remark comes hours after Champat Rai resigned as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, reportedly on “moral grounds”, amid the ongoing controversy over the alleged embezzlement of donations. Trustee Anil Mishra has also stepped down.The Uttar Pradesh government recently ordered a probe after allegations surfaced that devotees’ offerings had been misappropriated.On Thursday, eight people named in an FIR in connection with the alleged embezzlement of temple donations were arrested. All eight were associated with counting cash and other valuables received as offerings at the temple.The FIR was registered on the complaint of Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, following recommendations made in the preliminary report of a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
