Police in Ayodhya registered the FIR on Thursday following a complaint from a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, hours after the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) also backed demands for a criminal case in the matter.
In a post on X, Yadav alleged that the FIR was preceded by efforts to shield influential persons.
“In BJP rule, this is how injustice will be displayed: the tip of the tree will be hanged while the branches will be forgiven,” he said.
“The public is saying that first, under the pretext of the SIT, all evidence would have been cleaned up and it would have been decided which big fish had to be saved and who had to be trapped. Only after that has the FIR been registered,” he added.
“It appears the SIT report was prepared in advance and the investigation was conducted accordingly, meaning the conclusion had already been reached beforehand,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister added.
Speaking to PTI Videos in Varanasi, Rai said the Congress had raised the issue across Uttar Pradesh and demanded the registration of an FIR in connection with the alleged donation embezzlement.”Our party raised its voice in every district of the state over the theft and embezzlement of offerings at the Ayodhya Ram temple and demanded that an FIR be registered. We had also submitted copies of a memorandum addressed to the president to officials in every district. Today, you can see that the trust was compelled to take a decision and get an FIR registered,” he said.
However, the Congress leader alleged that the FIR is merely a “formality”.
“This FIR has been registered only as a formality and only the names of small employees have been included. The names of the people under whose supervision the entire Ram temple and trust function — Nripendra Misra, Champat Rai, Gopal Rao and Anil Mishra — are not there, despite allegations of corruption against them,” he said.
Rai further alleged that workers associated with the temple had claimed that commissions of up to 40 per cent were sought from them.
“All this proves that the FIR has been lodged only to mislead people and pacify public anger. It will have no meaningful impact. Until cases are registered against the big people involved, we will not remain silent and will continue to fight on this issue,” he said.
“The people named in the FIR are all small employees. Action should be taken against those senior persons under whose directions they worked,” he added.
The Congress leader also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of protecting certain individuals linked to the case.
“When allegations are being made against the trust chairman, who has also served as the secretary to the prime minister, why is no case being registered against him? It is because he enjoys the prime minister’s protection. The same is true of Champat Rai and Anil Mishra. That is why all these people are being protected,” Rai alleged.
“This entire episode shows that even in the offerings made to Lord Ram, there is discrimination in the action being taken and theft is being facilitated,” he added.
