‘Vote chori, seat chori, chanda chori’: Congress attacks BJP over Ayodhya donation row

File photo: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh (Picture credit: PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the BJP and the RSS over the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, calling it a “scam” carried out by the BJP-RSS ecosystem and questioning the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the BJP’s politics now revolved around a three-pronged strategy of “vote chori, seat chori, chanda chori” (vote theft, seat theft and donation theft), reported news agency PTI.Ramesh also criticised the RSS for its response to the controversy, calling its statement “disgraceful and shameful”.He alleged that the organisation, which often claims to uphold integrity and nationalism, had failed to address the seriousness of the allegations.

Demands Supreme Court-monitored probe

Claiming that donations worth “thousands of crores” had been siphoned off, Ramesh demanded an inquiry monitored by a sitting Supreme Court judge and strict action against all those found guilty.“Donations running into thousands of crores have been siphoned off. Of course, there should be an inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge, of course the toughest action should be taken against all the accused but the silence of the prime minister and the home minister is shocking,” he said. Ramesh argued that Prime Minister Modi, who had taken credit for the construction and inauguration of the Ram Temple on January 22, 2024, should publicly respond to the controversy.“We expect the prime minister, who took credit for building the Ram Temple… to make a statement. They have been completely silent,” he said.

BJP-RSS ecosystem under fire

The Congress leader linked the alleged donation irregularities with the BJP’s past funding practices, referring to the now-scrapped electoral bonds scheme.“Remember the electoral bond scheme. It was struck down by the Supreme Court. Hundreds of crores were collected – ‘chanda do dhanda lo’. So this whole ‘chanda business’ is part of the BJP’s DNA,” Ramesh alleged.He further claimed that members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust were closely associated with the BJP-RSS ecosystem and questioned whether senior leaders were unaware of what had allegedly taken place.“To think that the RSS did not know what is happening, to think that the PM and HM did not know what was happening, is beyond imagination,” he said, adding that the “whole enterprise was a political enterprise”.Ramesh also questioned the role of former principal secretary to the Prime Minister Nipendra Mishra, saying the system was “a tightly-locked, interconnected ecosystem” where “nothing escapes the other’s attention”.

Probe underway after FIR and arrests

The alleged embezzlement came to light after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government submitted its preliminary findings. An FIR was registered on June 25.Police have arrested eight accused in the case. Investigators have also recovered nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash, along with some foreign currency, from six of the accused, while the probe remains ongoing.Reiterating the party’s stand, Ramesh alleged that the case represented “a ghotala, a scam perpetrated by the BJP-RSS ecosystem”, and again criticised the continued silence of Prime Minister Modi and home minister Shah, according to PTI.

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