Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai and other members of a party delegation were Tuesday prevented from visiting the Ram temple in Ayodhya, where the alleged theft of donations has sparked a major political storm and put the ruling BJP on the back foot.
Rai claimed he has been placed under “house arrest” here and said he would not leave Ayodhya until allowed to offer prayers at the Ram temple.
According to the Congress leader, members of the party delegation travelling separately for Tuesday’s visit were either stopped on the way, confined to their homes or detained by police. However, there was no official word on the action against them.
The Congress team led by Rai was scheduled to visit Ayodhya Tuesday amid the ongoing controversy over the alleged embezzlement of donations at the shrine. Its members included MPs Kishori Lal Sharma (Amethi), Rakesh Rathor (Sitapur), Ujjwal Raman Singh (Prayagraj) and Tanuj Punia (Barabanki).
“They could not stop the donation theft, but they have stopped us Hindus from offering prayers at the temple. What kind of Sanatan tradition is this that prevents people from having darshan?” Amethi MP Sharma said in a video statement, adding that he too had been prevented from visiting the temple.
Around two dozen Congress workers, including youth wing leader Sharad Shukla, were detained and taken to police lines while they were holding a sit-in outside the Acharya Narendra Dev University in Kumar Ganj here, where Rai remained in a guest house under police watch. They were demanding that the party leaders be allowed to visit the Ram temple, according to police sources.
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Rai said he was moved from a hotel to the government guesthouse at the university around midnight by the police.
“What kind of government is this that is scared of our visiting the Ram temple? I think they have arrested me. Why would they bring me to this guesthouse in the middle of the night and keep me confined here?” Rai told PTI over the phone.
There was no immediate confirmation from Ayodhya Police on whether Rai had been formally arrested.
Rai’s wife, Reena Rai, also put out a video statement late Monday, saying her husband had been taken into custody by police and the family had not been informed about his whereabouts.
“The family is worried, and we fear for his safety,” she said.
Former Congress Rajya Sabha MP Aliya Zubairi and the party’s Youth District President Sunil Krishna Gautam ‘Ranu’ were also taken into custody during the Congress protests, police sources said.
Congress workers, however, continued their protest at the main gate of the university.
Congress MP from Prayagraj Ujjwal Raman Singh was also prevented from leaving his Ashok Nagar residence, his aide said.
Vinay Kushwaha, a representative of the MP, told PTI over the phone that police personnel had been stationed outside the residence since morning and were not allowing Singh to leave for Ayodhya.
He said the police neither informed them that the MP was under house arrest nor that he had been detained, but continued to prevent him from stepping out.
Rai paid obeisance at the Ram temple on June 18, days after the allegations of embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple had surfaced.
The alleged embezzlement of temple donations has triggered a major political controversy with opposition parties accusing the BJP and the RSS of betraying Hindus and Lord Ram and demanding a wider probe.
Asserting that the guilty will not be spared, the BJP has alleged that opposition parties which never spoke in favour of the Ram temple were politicising the issue to divide the Hindu community.
Addressing a public meeting in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath targeted the Congress and the Samajwadi Party over the controversy, accusing them of hypocrisy over their “newfound” support for Lord Ram.
“Who is advocating devotion to Lord Ram today? The very people who before 2017 ordered lathi-charges on those raising the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
“When Ram devotees proclaimed ‘Ram Lalla Hum Aayenge, Mandir Wahin Banayenge’, they were met with bullets. Today, the same people are speaking in the name of faith,” the chief minister said.