#RamMandir donation row | As allegations surrounding donations linked to the Ram temple trigger political debate, BJP in Uttar Pradesh faces a complex challenge of managing the political implications around one of its strongest symbolic assets while aiding direct ownership of a concentrated entry on temple trust administration.

Unlike conventional allegations involving public funds or agencies, the #Ramtemple is administered by an independent trust.

However, #Ayodhya occupies a unique political space for the BJP.

Over the years, the party has closely associated itself with the movement, construction and larger political messaging around the temple.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jun/23/ayodhya-donation-row-may-test-bjps-political-ownership-of-temple-narrative-ahead-of-up-polls

Amid a probe into the alleged embezzlement of #RamTemple funds in #Ayodhya, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and member trustee Anil Mishra have resigned, taking moral responsibility.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jun/26/ram-mandir-donation-row-temple-trust-general-secretary-champat-rai-trustee-anil-mishra-resign

#RamMandir #RamMandirDonation

"BJP may be genuine because it is registered with the Election Commission, but its Hindutva is not genuine. Those who do not follow the Vedas are fake Hindus."

Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath questioned the FIR registered in the alleged embezzlement of donations at the #RamTemple in #Ayodhya, saying only lower-level employees had been named while those responsible for the alleged larger wrongdoing had been "spared".

Targeting the BJP, Avimukteshwaranand alleged that the party's #Hindutva was "fake" and its members were "fake Hindus".

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jun/26/jyotirmath-shankaracharya-says-ram-temple-fir-spares-key-accused-calls-bjps-hindutva-fake

The alleged embezzlement of donations at the #RamTemple in #Ayodhya has put the shrine's donation management system under scrutiny after a Special Investigation Team uncovered multiple lapses, leading to the arrest of eight people involved in counting cash and valuables.

Here is what the investigation has found so far.

#RamMandir

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jun/27/missing-cctv-keys-to-hundis-ignored-sops-inside-the-sit-probe-into-ayodhya-ram-temple-donations-fraud

"All this has proved that they are not Ram bhakts. Had they been Ram bhakts, they would have maintained #LordRam's 'maryada' and given strict instructions for an independent investigation in the supervision of the Supreme Court, as this trust was formed on SC directions"

The #Congress questioned Prime Minister #NarendraModi's silence over the alleged embezzlement of donations at the #RamTemple in #Ayodhya and demanded the immediate arrest of those behind the alleged "scam".

#RamMandir

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jun/27/not-true-ram-bhakts-congress-questions-pm-modis-silence-on-ayodhya-temple-donation-row

#SupremeCourt has declined an urgent hearing on a petition seeking a fair and time-bound probe into the alleged embezzlement of donations at the #Ayodhya #RamTemple.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Sheel Nagu said the matter will be listed for hearing after the summer break.

“Heavens are not going to fall… What is the urgency,” the bench observed orally.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jun/29/heavens-are-not-going-to-fall-sc-rejects-urgent-hearing-on-ram-temple-donation-row-plea

All eight accused arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donation funds at #RamTemple were remanded to 14-day judicial custody.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jun/29/ram-temple-donations-case-all-eight-accused-sent-to-14-day-judicial-custody

#UttarPradesh #Ayodhya #RamMandir #AyodhyaTemple

"Ayodhya ki loot jhanki hai, Kashi-Mathura abhi baaki hai (the alleged loot in Ayodhya was only a glimpse, Kashi and Mathura were yet to come)": Pawan Khera

#Congress targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and #UttarPradesh CM Yogi Adityanath over the alleged irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings made by devotees at the #RamTemple in #Ayodhya.

🔗 https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jun/29/congress-claims-sbi-had-sought-removal-of-officials-posted-at-ram-temples-donation-counting-centre-three-months-ago

Investigators recover one of the most crucial pieces of evidence from #RamTemple donation row accused's house.

A donation chest bearing the words "Ramrajya Kosh" and fitted with a QR code for digital payments was recovered from the residence of an accused in the alleged #RamTemple donation theft case.

The wooden chest was recovered during a search of the house of accused Avinash Shukla as the SIT intensified its investigation into the alleged embezzlement of devotees' offerings at the Ram Temple in #Ayodhya.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/01/ayodhya-ram-temple-embezzlement-case-donation-chest-bearing-qr-code-seized-from-accuseds-house

The #Ayodhya Development Authority has begun action against properties linked to those accused in the #RamTemple donation theft case by issuing a show-cause notice over an under-construction house allegedly built in violation of building rules.

#RamMandir

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/02/ayodhya-development-authority-issues-notice-over-accuseds-house-in-ram-temple-donation-theft-case

"Who exactly are they trying to protect in the end? #NarendraModi took full credit for the #RamTemple, but today he remains silent on the theft of offerings... when he took the credit, he must also take responsibility. This is a betrayal of the people's trust"

Amid the raging row over the alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in #Ayodhya, the Congress pushed for its demands that the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust be dissolved, a Supreme Court-monitored probe be conducted, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his "silence" on the issue.

#RamMandir

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/03/pm-modi-took-full-credit-for-ram-temple-must-break-silence-on-donation-thefts-congress

Around the time the #Ayodhya #RamTemple donation scam unfolded, another major temple was on a diametrically opposite plane, taking its security systems to the next level.

The #Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which manages the Sri Venkateswara temple in #Tirupati — the richest Hindu temple in the world — tasked the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India with creating a robust framework to strengthen its accounting and audit system.

Could the Ayodhya temple have prevented the multi-crore donation theft by adopting the ‘TTD model’, as suggested by former principal secretary to PM Narendra Modi and #RamMandir construction committee chairman Nripendra Misra?

The answer may lie not in robust technology but in effective administration.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/explainers/2026/Jul/04/ram-temple-theft-vs-robust-ttdsecurity

A primary school teacher, a former car mechanic, a retired bank employee and a trusted aide of a senior Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust functionary are among the eight people arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Take a look at the people arrested in #Ayodhya #RamTemple donation theft probe.

#RamMandir

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/05/teacher-temple-aide-former-mechanic-who-are-the-8-arrested-in-ayodhya-ram-temple-donation-theft-probe

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief #UddhavThackeray launched his "Ram Raksha" agitation over the alleged embezzlement of donations at the #Ayodhya #RamTemple, accusing the #BJP of exploiting Hindutva and asserting that "those looting Hindus are in power".

#RamMandir

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/maharashtra/2026/Jul/05/bjp-mukt-ram-uddhav-launches-ram-raksha-campaign-over-ayodhya-donation-row

Nearly a month after the controversy erupted over the alleged theft of donation money from the #RamTemple in #Ayodhya, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das expressed deep anguish over the issue.

Demanding the strictest punishment for those responsible for the alleged wrongdoing, he urged people not to politicise the matter, saying it was linked to the faith of millions of Hindus.

🔗 https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/06/deeply-distressed-ram-temple-trust-chief-seeks-strictest-punishment-for-donation-theft-accused

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust accepted the resignations of its general secretary #ChampatRai and trustee #DrAnilMishra amid the ongoing alleged #RamTemple donation theft controversy.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/06/donation-theft-row-ram-temple-trust-accepts-resignations-of-champat-rai-anil-mishra

Around 70 suspicious incidents were captured on CCTV between April 27 and June 5, 2026, during the counting of donations at the #RamTemple, with staff allegedly seen concealing bundles of cash, according to the preliminary report of the SIT investigating the alleged donation irregularities.

The report identified several procedural lapses that may have facilitated the alleged misappropriation, including the absence of frisking at entry and exit points, inadequate checks on employees' personal belongings, and the practice of counting cash from multiple donation boxes together.

#Ayodhya #RamMandir

🔗 https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/07/ram-temple-donation-embezzlement-probe-sit-flags-security-lapses-around-70-suspicious-incidents

The alleged embezzlement of donation money at the #RamTemple in #Ayodhya has revived memories of another high-profile temple theft — at the #KashiVishwanathTemple — that changed the shrine's management forever.
A look back at the temple's history shows that a theft at the revered shrine four decades ago had led the then #UttarPradesh government to take over its management.
🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/08/ayodhya-donation-scandal-recalls-1983-kashi-vishwanath-theft-that-reshaped-temple-governance

The alleged theft of donations from the #RamTemple in #Ayodhya has ignited a political controversy in #UttarPradesh, providing the Opposition with an opportunity to sharpen its attack on the ruling #BJP ahead of the assembly elections.

Although the BJP and the UP government have no direct role in the collection, custody or management of the donations, the Opposition, particularly the #SamajwadiParty, is expected to exploit the controversy to question the governance narrative associated with the temple.

#RamMandir

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/india/2026/Jul/09/theft-at-ram-temple-may-take-centrestage-in-up-polls

The ambit of the probe into the embezzlement of #RamTemple donation funds has widened with the investigators focusing on investment of a part of the stolen cash in stock market and other financial instruments by the accused in a bid not only to conceal the money trail, but also generate profits.

#Ayodhya police have searched houses of the accused again and have allegedly frozen their bank accounts.

#RamMandir

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/uttar-pradesh/2026/Jul/10/stolen-ram-temple-donation-funds-invested-in-shares-police-freeze-30-bank-accounts