NEW DELHI: A trust that runs India’s grand Ram temple, whose consecration was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024 after decades of controversy, has overhauled its leadership after people involved in counting donations were accused of stealing millions of rupees in offerings.

The construction of the temple dedicated to Ram on the site of the Babri mosque fulfilled one of the biggest promises of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which derives its support mainly from the Hindu majority.

The alleged theft at the temple has provided the opposition with ammunition ahead of an election due early next year in bellwether Uttar Pradesh, where the temple is located in the city of Ayodhya.

The temple site was bitterly contested for decades, sparking nationwide riots in 1992 that killed 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, after a Hindu mob destroyed the 16th-century Babri mosque.

‘Shameful incident’

Trustees of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, set up by the government in New Delhi to build the temple, met on Monday and said they accepted the resignation of General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra.

They appointed an interim secretary and a committee to identify candidates for a newly created position of chief executive. The trust did not say how much money had been stolen, but authorities said following the arrest of eight people last month that nearly eight million rupees had been recovered from seven of them.

Until March 31, the temple had received 5.82 billion rupees in offerings.

“This donation theft is a very shameful incident for all of us,” trust treasurer Govindadev Giri told reporters. “We all are hurt.”

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak San­gh, from which the BJP emerged, has urged Hindus to be patient and res­trained to “foil the conspiracies of anti-Hindu, anti-national forces who seek to exploit this unfortunate incident to malign Hindu dharma and society”.

Opposition asks Modi to speak up

Opposition parties have asked for the trust to be dissolved and Modi to speak up on the issue. The prime minister, whose party has ruled Uttar Pradesh since 2017 but did poorly there in the general election in 2024, is on a tour of Indonesia from where he will fly to Australia and New Zealand.

“The country does not need piecemeal resignations,” Congress party spokesperson Pawan Khera said. “It deserves a complete dissolution and overhaul of the trust, and every one of its members must face an independent, Supreme Court-supervised investigation.” The BJP has accused the opposition of being opportunistic in attacking the government over the theft.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2026