Ayodhya will be BJP's Lanka: Akhilesh Yadav on Ram temple unravelling

Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday intensified his attack on the BJP over the alleged Ram temple donation scam, asserting that Ayodhya itself would become the party's "Lanka" and expose what he described as the hollowness of its claims to religious devotion.

Invoking the 'Lanka Kaand' from Ramcharitmanas — which symbolises the triumph of good over evil through Lord Ram's defeat of Ravana — Yadav suggested that the controversy surrounding the alleged misappropriation of cash and valuables donated to the Ram temple would ultimately bring about the BJP's political downfall.

"The Lanka Kaand of the BJP will take place in Ayodhya itself. The mask worn by these daanbhakto (devotees of charity) has finally come off, because the Lord's divine power has indeed revealed its miracle,' Yadav said in a post on X. 'Now, the glittering Lanka empire of the BJP's arrogance will meet its end, as well as the Lankadhipati (chief of Lanka) himself,' he added.

His remarks came hours after the resignation of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general-secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra amid an expanding probe into alleged irregularities involving devotees' donations. The controversy has so far led to an FIR and the arrest of eight people, including a close aide of Rai.

Yadav claimed the resignations marked only the beginning of the crisis for the ruling party. 'The BJP used to boast that its office-bearers never resign. Now they are calling resignations tyagpatra,' he said, predicting an internal power struggle within the broader Sangh Parivar.

'This is just the beginning. There will now be a battle within. Their "band of parties, Sangh, Sabha, Parishad, Vahini and Trust" will begin exposing one another's secrets. The borders ought to be sealed before they flee in different directions with their 'sacks and bags' stuffed with stolen loot,' he alleged.

The SP chief further claimed that the BJP would not escape what he described as 'God's audit'.

In another swipe, Yadav linked the controversy to the recurring allegations of examination paper leaks under the BJP government. 'NEET students are saying that since resignations have already begun, the leak-aadhipati (king of leaks) should be made to resign as well,' he said.

In a separate post on X, Yadav mocked the alleged discrepancies in accounting for temple donations. 'What is the point of studying mathematics when the counting itself is rigged? Gold and silver are short-weighted, and jewellery is stolen?' he asked.

Calling the alleged irregularities a symbol of deep-rooted corruption, Yadav said the episode went far beyond the proverb of 'darkness beneath the lamp'.

'It is not merely a case of darkness beneath the lamp; it is an abyss filled with the pitch-black darkness of corruption,' he said.

Claiming that he had long warned of irregularities at the temple, Yadav alleged that the scandal had vindicated his earlier assertions. 'I had already said that the theft at the grand temple would one day be exposed,' he said.

Drawing a historical comparison, he added: 'Those who looted 17 times have been infamous in history for centuries. Those who looted 70 times in just 40 days will be recorded in black letters in history.'

He further alleged that the scale of the purported theft raised questions about previous transactions. 'Think about this: Those who have committed such a massive theft in mere seven weeks, how much must they have stolen over all these years? How much did they share among themselves, how much did they quietly stash away or cover up, and how much did they pass on to their leader? Absolutely reprehensible!' Yadav said.

The BJP and the Ram Temple Trust have rejected allegations of wrongdoing, while an SIT probe into the handling of donations remains underway.

With PTI inputs