Dona Paula, Goa | Updated: July 3, 2026
Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Ram Mandir Teerth Kshetra Trust over the ongoing controversy surrounding alleged embezzlement of donations meant for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Addressing a press conference in Goa, Kejriwal alleged that financial irregularities linked to the temple did not begin recently but dated back to 2021.
He cited alleged instances of inflated land purchases by the Ram Mandir Teerth Kshetra Trust and claimed that land worth ₹2 crore was sold to the Trust for ₹18 crore within 10 minutes.
Kejriwal further alleged that land worth ₹3 crore was purchased for ₹24 crore, land worth ₹9 crore was bought for ₹55 crore and land worth ₹14 crore was purchased for ₹95 crore.
He claimed that documents related to these transactions were available in the public domain.
The AAP leader also alleged irregularities in the awarding of construction contracts for the temple. He claimed that reports suggested engineers had stated that a 40 per cent commission was taken on every tender during the construction process.
Kejriwal said devotees across the country had donated money and valuables for the Ram Mandir with deep faith, but reports of alleged financial irregularities and missing offerings had hurt people’s sentiments.
He alleged that several valuables donated to the temple, including jewellery, ornaments, silver bricks, silver lamps and cash donations, had gone missing.
Referring to Goa, Kejriwal said people of the state had contributed with devotion towards the construction of the Ram Mandir and were deeply pained by the reports of alleged scams and theft of offerings.
The Ram Mandir donation embezzlement controversy began after an FIR was registered on June 25 over alleged misappropriation of donations received at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple.
The Ram Mandir Trust has maintained that it is committed to ensuring a fair investigation and preserving the faith of devotees.
According to officials, the case has been registered under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections related to theft, criminal breach of trust, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy.
Those named in the FIR include Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Tinnu Yadav, Manish Yadav and others.
The case followed allegations by former Samajwadi Party MLA from Ayodhya Pawan Pandey, who claimed that ₹7 crore to ₹7.5 crore in donations had been misappropriated from the Ram Mandir.
On June 29, an Ayodhya court remanded all accused in the alleged donation embezzlement case to 14-day judicial custody.
Earlier, former Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra resigned, taking moral responsibility for the controversy.
Police have recorded Champat Rai’s statement, while statements of other senior Trust officials, including Anil Mishra, may also be recorded if required during the investigation.
