Communist Party of India's Rajya Sabha MP Santosh Kumar P. has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a comprehensive Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and an independent judicial inquiry into alleged irregularities in the management of donations made to the Ram Temple.
In his letter, Santosh Kumar invoked a 1989 exchange of letters between veteran CPI leader Hiren Mukerjee and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He recalled that Vajpayee had then written that he had "never said that the masjid should be brought down" and did not believe India could only be seen as a Hindu Rashtra.
The CPI leader alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party had politicised Lord Ram and used the Ram Temple movement for electoral mobilisation. Referring to recent reports of alleged irregularities in the Trust, he claimed that donations, including gold, silver and cash offerings made by devotees, require an independent accounting.
"Those who claimed to be Lord Rama's greatest devotees repeatedly treated Him as a political asset rather than an article of faith," he wrote. "The Sangh Parivar invoked
Lord Rama to accumulate political power; now it stands accused of making his temple tainted by greed."
Santosh Kumar urged the prime minister to order a CAG audit of all donations received by the Trust since its inception and make the findings public. He also demanded an independent judicial inquiry into alleged criminal activities related to the temple's construction and the handling of devotees' offerings, saying that anyone found guilty should face legal action irrespective of political or organisational affiliation.
The letter concludes with an appeal to "spare the Temple, spare Lord Rama and spare the faith of millions”.
