Sitapur/Hardoi/Barabanki: “Har bhakt ke liye yeh dukh ki baat hai. Hum shraddha se daan dete hain. Agar wahi paisa chori ho jaye toh dard toh hoga hi. (This is deeply saddening for every devotee. We donate with devotion. If that money is stolen, it’s only natural that it would hurt.”
Twenty-eight-year-old Raj Narayan Shukla of Puranpur village in Sitapur district looked pained as he talked about the alleged theft of donations at the Ayodhya Ram temple. He had also donated twice: Rs 2,100 when he visited before the consecration ceremony on 22 January 2024, and Rs 1,100 when he visited after that.
But what has happened at the temple has not shaken his faith in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, though. ”This concerns the people managing the trust, not the BJP,” he said in a conversation with ThePrint outside his house. “Yogi will take action. Whoever is guilty should be punished.”
Uttar Pradesh has been under Yogi Adityanath since 2017, and what Shukla said would be music to the ears of the chief minister and the BJP, amid rancorous Opposition criticism of the government set to enter the next assembly election as a 10-year incumbent.
For Shukla, law and order is of more immediate concern and he gives the Adityanath government full marks on that front. One of the Yogi government’s biggest achievements is improving law and order, he said.
“Jis road se aap yahan aa rahe hain, pehle shaam hote hi wahan kaafi gundagardi hoti thi. Ab Yogi raj mein kiski himmat hai? (The road you took to reach here would see goonda-ism after dusk. Now, under the Yogi rule, nobody would dare do that?),” he told this reporter, pointing to the road leading into the village.
A few blocks away, 23-year-old Ashutosh Shukla said the Ram Temple donation theft controversy had become impossible to ignore because of social media.
“People in every village are watching reels about Ayodhya. Everyone now knows the names of Champat Rai (who resigned as the general secretary of the trust managing the temple after the donation theft issue surfaced) and (his former driver) Tinnu Yadav.”
“There is anger because villagers contributed donations for the temple,” he told ThePrint.
But will it have a bearing on their voting choices? Ashotosh, like Raj Narayan, thinks none.
“This issue should not be linked with elections,” he said, adding caste equations, price rise and law and order would continue to influence voting behaviour.
‘Temple trust functionaries were chosen by Centre, so PM Modi is responsible. Similarly, state police needed to take strict action that is why CM Yogi is also responsible. The media is saving them,’ says Shubham Mishra of Hardoi’s Godwa village.
Across villages in Sitapur, Hardoi and Barabanki, ThePrint found similar sentiments among upper-caste voters, the BJP’s core support. They seemed to be largely supportive of the party even though they expressed outrage about the alleged theft of donations.
But there were some critical voices, and they felt that both—Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath—are “responsible” for what happened at the temple.
”The temple trust functionaries were chosen by the Central government and so PM Modi is responsible. Similarly, the state police needed to take strict action that is why CM Yogi is also responsible. The media is saving them. Accountability must also go upwards,” said 25-year-old Shubham Mishra in Hardoi’s Godwa village.
A few kilometres away in Meenapur village, Ram Devi, who is an OBC, said “deteriorating” roads and pending welfare benefits are her main concerns rather than the donation theft.
“Mujhe jankari hai chanda chori ki lekin yahan muddey doosre hain. Sadak kharab hai. Kai logon ko abhi tak Aawas Yojana aur shauchalay ka labh nahi mila. Vote in muddon par padega (I am aware about the donation theft, but election issues are different here. The Roads are in poor condition. Many families are still waiting for housing and toilet scheme benefits. We will cast a vote on these issues),” she said.
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‘Chanda chori chhodiye, yahan adhikari chor hain’
Even among communities that are not known to be necessarily loyal to any single political party, the Ram temple donation theft is an issue but not something that would determine their voting choices.
Sukru Lal, a 45 year old Dalit farmer from Meenapur village in Hardoi district, said, “The alleged theft at the Ram Temple may be a big issue, but for us, the bigger problem is corruption at the village and block levels.”
“We have applied twice for a toilet under the government scheme, but nothing has happened. Chanda chori chhodiye, yahan adhikari chor hain, pradhan chor hain… janta ka haq kha rahe hain” (Forget donation theft, here officials and village heads are the real thieves. They are eating away the rights of the people).”
‘The alleged theft at the Ram Temple may be a big issue, but for us, the bigger problem is corruption at the village and block levels,’ says Sukru Lal, a Dalit farmer in Hardoi.
His neighbour, Asha Kumari, a 49-year-old Dalit woman, invited this reporter into her thatched house. “We deserve a better house under a government housing scheme, but no one is helping us. We cannot even afford to build our own house, so how can we afford to donate to temples?”
Conversations with villagers across these three central Uttar Pradesh districts suggested that reels and videos about the donation theft dominate their social media feeds.
What has happened at the temple has angered them. But it hasn’t taken a political colour yet even though opposition parties, especially the Samajwadi Party, have launched an aggressive campaign to target the Yogi Adityanath government on this issue.
After the allegations of the donation theft surfaced in early June, the state government was quick to set up a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations, following a request from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
The SIT hasn’t submitted its final report yet. In the meantime, eight temple trust functionaries involved in the donational counting process at the temple have been arrested by the police.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra trust general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra have resigned, but they have not been named in any police FIR, which people ThePrint spoke to feel is a deliberate attempt to shield the high-ranking officials
At a tea stall in Ambarpur village, people were discussing the donation theft case when ThePrint arrived Thursday afternoon. Yogendra Pratap Singh and Durgesh Singh, both regular visitors to Ayodhya, said they felt personally betrayed.
“Humne bhi mandir nirman ke samay daan diya tha. Har Hindu ko dukh hua hai (We too donated during the temple’s construction. Every Hindu feels hurt),” Yogendra said.
“Abhi sirf chhoti machhliyan pakdi gayi hain, badi machhliyon ko abhi tak chhua bhi nahi gaya (Only the small fish have been caught. The big fish haven’t even been touched),” he added.
Asked if it would influence his voting choice next year, he said, “Hum Thakur hain… samajh jaaiye. (We are Thakurs… you have your answer.”
‘Why should we be angry with (PM) Modi or (CM) Yogi? We are angry with those who stole our donations,’ says Seema Kumari of Barabanki.
Durgesh Singh said he doesn’t feel like donating anymore. “Covid dekha, kisaan andolan dekha. Itne bade mudde aaye. Mujhe nahi lagta ki sirf is mudde se BJP ko bada nuksan hoga (We’ve seen Covid and the farmers’ protest. I don’t think this issue will hurt the BJP significantly),” he said, pointing out how the BJP could tide over bigger challenges like the Covid pandemic and farmers’ protests.
In Haidergarh block of Barabanki district, Seema Kumari recalled travelling to Ayodhya with more than 50 neighbours after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony. “Why should we be angry with (PM) Modi or Yogi? We are angry with those who stole our donations,” she said.
Another resident, 45-year-old businessman Ritesh Gupta, said he was also hurt by the donation theft but elections won’t be fought on this issue alone. “UGC (equity regulations) could become a poll issue in 2027, but not the Ram temple donations. People have problems with the opposition’s politics, too,” he said.
The Samajwadi Party, however, believes the “donation theft” issue is unlikely to disappear, and they would be able to make it a major poll issue eventually.
“We will take it to every household. It is too early to say that it will not affect the elections. It definitely will. Just wait for a few months, we have a plan to ensure this issue reaches every home,” former Ayodhya MLA Pawan Pandey told ThePrint.
According to state-based political analyst Shilp Shikha Singh, the Ram Temple donation controversy has the potential to become an electoral issue only if the opposition is able to sustain public attention around it until the 2027 assembly elections.
That would require sustained organisational work at the grassroots, she said.
“The issue has emotional resonance because it concerns the faith of millions of devotees. But for it to translate into electoral impact, the Opposition will have to keep it alive consistently over the coming months. For this, they need to work on village-level from now itself.” Singh said.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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