Weeks after the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust accepted the resignation of general secretary Champat Rai over the alleged theft of devotees' offerings, former Treasurer Govind Dev Giri was appointed as his replacement, as part of a wave of major organisational changes.
The changes, which took place at a Trust meeting on Wednesday, also saw Air Marshal (Retd) Jeetendra Mishra take the helm as the CEO, alongside Mahesh Bhagchandka as Trustee and Treasurer, and Madan Mohan Pandey and Nirmala Yadav as Trustees.
This comes as the Ayodhya-based temple looks to rebuild trust after the scandal led to eight arrests in the case, in addition to the high-profile resignations of three officials, including Rai.
The case, which is being probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), had also been widely politicised by the Opposition ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
In fact, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, in his first reaction amid the selection of the new Trust members on Wednesday, remarked that the administration had sent "ordinary employees to jail but spared the big names", as per an ANI report.
We hope there will be no theft of 'Ram Dhan (Ram's wealth)' ... Ayodhya should have been developed as a world-class city. There was so much greed in their (BJP's) minds that the poor are being defrauded of their land," he added.
Who is Govind Dev Giri?
Famed as both a spiritual saint and storyteller prior to joining the Ram Temple trust in 2020, the Maharashtra-born Govind Dev Giri inherited deep knowledge of ancient spiritual scriptures from his family.
After completing his primary education in his native village, he joined the Tatvajnana Vidyapeeth founded by activist and philosopher P.H. Pandurang Shastri Athavale.
It was under his guidance that Govind Dev Giri completed his B.A. in Philosophy, after which he completed further religious studies from Varanasi, from where his sermons spread.
Years of sermons followed as he rose up the spiritual ranks, eventually joining the Ram Temple Trust in 2020, at which time he was responsible for the procurement and management of funds for the construction of the temple.
