Congress steps up Ram Temple campaign, asking Modi to answer for alleged theft of donations

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi with DPCC president Devender Yadav and Anil Bhardwaj addressed the media on the Ram Mandir issue in New Delhi on Saturday. | Photo credit: SHUBHOMOY SIKDAR

The Congress on Saturday (July 11, 2026) stepped up its campaign against the alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, holding 26 press conferences across the country and demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his silence on the issue.

At a press conference in New Delhi, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the prime minister was “directly answerable to the nation” as he had taken political ownership of the temple project. “This is not just a theft of money but a betrayal of the faith of millions of devotees,” he said.

“Key officials must be held accountable”

The party reiterated its demand for the immediate arrest of former general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Champat Rai and other functionaries, alleging that those responsible for running the trust have escaped scrutiny.

“None of them have been named in the FIR or mentioned in the SIT report. Merely arresting petty officials will not work. Responsibility must be fixed where it needs to be fixed,” Mr Singhvi said.

Accusing the BJP of shielding those responsible, he said, “No institution or temple is safe under the BJP. Ujjain witnessed the land scam, while Ayodhya saw donation theft.”

Terming the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe as an attempt at a “cover-up”, Mr Singhvi questioned why no action was taken against “people like Champat Rai, Anil Mishra, Gopal Rai and Krishna Mohan”. “The real question is not who committed the theft, but who facilitated it and under whose auspices the accused were working,” he said.

The Congress also demanded a judicial inquiry monitored by the Supreme Court, a forensic audit of all donations received since the opening of the temple and a restructuring of the trust to include prominent citizens and civil society representatives instead of what Mr Singhvi described as “personally selected members of the BJP and RSS”.

In a separate post on X, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said the party has proposed 13 more press conferences on Sunday. “The administrators handpicked by (Narendra) Modi ji have been found guilty of bid-rigging, but the veils are yet to be lifted from the faces of the real masterminds of this whole scandal,” Mr. Ramesh said.

Published – 11 Jul 2026 22:22 IST