Ram Temple trust meet today to decide on 2 resignations amid donation row

THe executive director citizens committee of the Shri ram down Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra combine testament meet in Ayodhya on Monday at 3pm to decide on the resignations of two prominent members and swirling allegations of irregularities in temple donations even as uncertainty prevails regarding how many members will attend.Trust official Gopal Rao said the meeting venue was shifted to the Ram Mandir from the Mani Ram Chhavni campus in Ayodhya. Swami Govind Dev Giri, treasurer of the trust, is expected to present the resignations of general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra before the executive committee. Both Rai and Mishra are expected to present their viewpoints at the meeting, according to people familiar with the matter. A chief executive officer could be appointed for professional management of the Ram temple, they added.On Sunday, trust member Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati stressed the need for professional management of the body. “If such an incident has taken place, it is condemnable,” he said, responding to a question on the ongoing probe by the Uttar Pradesh government’s three-member Special Investigation Team. “Such a crime cannot be accepted,” he said.When asked about reconstitution of the Trust, Swami Vasudevanand, who uses the title Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth, said: “The trust has been constituted on orders of the Supreme Court. There is no need for any change in the trust. But we need to ensure professional management of the trust. It is necessary so that such controversies do not take place again.”These are the first comments by the trustee, who defended Rai and said all allegations against him were unfounded. Another trust member, mahant Dinendra Das of the Nirmohi Akhara, has also condemned the allegations.The eight men arrested so far include Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav ‘Tinnu’, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra, and Karunesh Pandey. Anukalp Mishra and Luvkush Mishra are related to each other, and also to trust member Anil Mishra, who resigned last week along with trust general secretary Champat Rai. Ram Shankar Yadav – an aide of Rai – and Manish Yadav are related.Last week, the police seized ₹79,85,493 from the eight arrested men, recovering money from bathrooms, haystacks and cow dung cakes.In the first meeting since the allegations surfaced, the resignations of Rai and Mishra, the ongoing SIT probe and management of the Ram Mandir are three of the top agenda items of the meeting. The audit report and the 2025-26 financial statement is the fourth point on the agenda. A fifth point says other issues could also be discussed with approval of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the trust chairman.But it is unclear just how many members will make it to the meeting.When the trust was constituted on February 5, 2020, it had 15 members – four ex officio members and 11 others. Among the 11, Kameshwar Chaupal and Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra passed away in February and August 2025 respectively. Krishna Mohan, a retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, was appointed in place of Kameshwar Chaupal in September 2025. Mishra’s place remains vacant.Four others, including chairman Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, 89, Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati, 90, Swami Paramanand, 90, and Supreme Court senior advocate Keshav Parasaran, 92, are ailing. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das has returned to Ayodhya after undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Lucknow and is expected to chair Monday’s meeting. Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati too has reached Ayodhya for the deliberations.According to the trust’s deed, a two-thirds majority is required to approve the resignations.Also Read: Six of eight held over Ram Temple donation irregularities were employed by Varanasi security firmMeanwhile, BJP national president accused the Opposition of attempting to gain political mileage from an issue linked to the faith of millions of Hindus. “Even if we have to shed our own blood, we will ensure that no one plays with the faith associated with Lord Ram’s temple...However, regarding these anti-Hindu forces, if they are trying to score political points today. Let me say this clearly to Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, and Arvind Kejriwal: do not underestimate Hinduism by thinking we will fall for your ruses or be misled by your deceptions,” Nabin said.‘Cannot ignore govt’s institutional presence’Rajya Sabha lawmaker John Brittas on Sunday said the government’s continuing institutional presence in the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust “cannot be ignored,” a day after he wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah seeking a review of the Centre’s stand that the trust falls outside the ambit of the RTI Act, 2005. “Transparency cannot become a casualty merely because the government chooses to describe a trust as ‘autonomous’,” Brittas said, adding that compliance with the Supreme Court’s judgment does not erase the legal character of a government notification.