‘Under house arrest, won’t leave without Ram Mandir darshan’: UP Congress chief Ajay Rai

A nine-member Congress delegation that had announced its visit to Ayodhya to offer prayers at the Ram Temple on Tuesday alleged that its leaders were detained at their hotels and guesthouses by the Uttar Pradesh administration.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai alleged that he had been picked up from his hotel and shifted to the Acharya Narendra Dev University guest house, where he claimed he had been placed under house arrest. “I had reached Ayodhya a day earlier because we anticipated that something like this could happen. Despite that, we have been stopped from offering prayers,” Rai claimed.

Questioning the government’s action, Rai alleged that the BJP government was being selective in allowing devotees access to the temple. “How can the government be selective with devotees? Just a few days ago, they facilitated VIP darshan for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, while our delegation was denied darshan. They not only indulge in donation theft but have also made darshan a selective affair,” Rai told The Indian Express.

“I will go on a hunger strike if required, but I won’t leave Ayodhya without offering prayers. We wanted to pray before Ram and Lord Hanuman for the way Ayodhya has been defamed because of the greed of some people from the RSS and BJP, but we have been denied prayers before Ram. We will not budge from Ayodhya until we offer the prayers,” he told The Indian Express over the phone.

Hitting out at the Congress, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said those who doubted the very existence of Lord Ram before 2017 are today throwing tantrums to visit Ayodhya. “Before 2017, they questioned the very existence of Shri Ram. Today, they say Ram belongs to everyone. Now, they are eager to visit Ayodhya. But Lord Ram is Jagat Niyanta, the ruler of the universe; the master of this cosmos. He knows who is right and who is wrong,” he said in Rampur.

He added that devotion to Lord Ram is capable of dealing with such “demon-like figures”. “The bhakti of Ram is enough to deal with such Kalnemis. There is nothing to worry about. Their discomfort is actually about how Ayodhya has become so beautiful,” he said.

Behind the visit

The delegation, led by Rai, included Amethi MP K L Sharma, three other MPs, an MLA, the state Congress chief and former MLC Deepak Singh, among other senior leaders. The visit had been announced amid the ongoing political controversy over alleged irregularities in donations at the Ram Temple, with the party maintaining that it was going to Ayodhya to offer prayers like any other devotee.

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Former MLC Deepak Singh said the delegation was determined to complete its visit. “We have decided that no matter what happens, we will not leave Ayodhya without offering prayers at the Ram Temple,” Singh said.

Party leaders had maintained that the visit was purely religious and that they intended to offer prayers at the Ram Temple like any ordinary devotee.

On Sunday, party sources had said senior leaders are likely to raise the issue of the alleged misappropriation of temple donations after offering prayers, with the Congress planning to target the BJP over the alleged theft, and demand greater transparency and accountability in the management of offerings made at the temple.

The Congress leaders’ Ayodhya visit will be the party’s first organised political intervention in the controversy, signalling that the party, too, intends to make the issue a political talking point ahead of the upcoming state elections.

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So far, the Samajwadi Party, led by its chief Akhilesh Yadav, has been the most vocal Opposition voice on the issue, repeatedly targeting the BJP government over the alleged donation irregularities.

On June 13, the UP government constituted the SIT on a request from the temple trust following allegations of misappropriation of donations. Based on the report, eight people were arrested: Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ram Shankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav.

The accused were sent to 14-day judicial custody on Monday.