Lord Ram won't allow those who stole 'Ram dhan' to win polls: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday, 5 August intensified his attack on the BJP over the alleged theft of offerings at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, claiming those responsible for stealing 'Ram dhan' would face divine punishment and be defeated in the elections.

Addressing a 'Brahmin Sammelan' at the Samajwadi Party's state headquarters in Lucknow, Yadav accused the ruling party of protecting the "real culprits" while sending lower-level employees to jail.

"BJP leaders are hiding their faces these days. The donation box is locked from the top but they have dug a tunnel underneath. If anyone has committed the biggest sin, it is the BJP because they have even stolen the offerings made to Lord Ram," he alleged. "Those who have stolen 'Ram Dhan' will not be allowed to win this time by Lord Shri Ram. They are going to be punished for their grave sin."

Claiming that senior figures were involved in the alleged theft, Yadav said the arrests of junior employees were an attempt to shield those truly responsible.

"When the theft was detected, small employees were arrested and sent to jail. The truth is that the theft is so huge that neither you nor I can even imagine it. Such a theft could not have been committed by junior employees alone. If such a theft has taken place, then influential people must be involved," he said.

Taking a swipe at chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the SP chief said the BJP leader had made a "world record" by visiting Ayodhya the maximum number of times but was allegedly unaware of the theft of temple offerings.

Yadav also criticised BJP leaders for asking SP workers to produce receipts for donations made to the Ram temple. "There can be nothing more shameful than this because in Hindu traditions, donations are not made for obtaining receipts," he said.

Targeting deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Yadav alleged that he remembered donation receipts because he himself had once been linked to a "fake receipt scam" related to fundraising, adding that voters had already punished him.

The SP president also referred to complaints over E20 petrol and alleged, without elaborating, that there was a "big game" behind its implementation.

Stepping up his attack on the BJP, Yadav repeated his claim that the party's acronym stood for "Bhrasht (corrupt), Julmi (oppressive) and Paapi (sinful)".

He further alleged large-scale corruption in the construction of the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway and questioned the quality of other expressways built under the BJP government.

Yadav also accused the Uttar Pradesh Police of treating people unjustly, alleging that the public had never faced as much "deception and humiliation" as under the BJP government.

With PTI inputs