BSP president Mayawati has sought Supreme Court intervention in the alleged land scam in Ayodhya.
“It is a serious matter since the names of influential people, including bureaucrats, have emerged in the scam. The Supreme Court should take note of it and the Centre must order a high-level probe. The matter concerns the faith and sentiments of crores of people. A committee of retired judges should be set up to probe the matter,” she said while talking to reporters here on Thursday.
The former UP chief minister’s statement came after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered an inquiry into transactions and sought a report within a week.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and government officials after reports emerged of them allegedly “usurping” land near the upcoming Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Conducting a press conference, the Congress general secretary said that an impartial inquiry needs to be conducted into the allegations and if proven true, it would mean that the state’s ruling party has been “looting” and “toying with” the devotions of countless people in the country who donated something or the other for the Ram Mandir Trust.
“Almost every household in the country has donated something to Ram Mandir Trust,” said Priyanka Gandhi while addressing reporters in New Delhi. “A door-to-door campaign was held too. It is a matter of devotion and that is being toyed with. The pieces of land of Dalits, which could not have been purchased, were grabbed.”
She alleged that there were a few pieces of land that were of a much lower value than what they were sold to the trust at.
“It means that there exists a scam regarding the money which was collected through the donation,” Gandhi claimed.
Taking note of the fact that the Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a probe into the ‘land grab’ reports, the Congress leader said that the Yogi Adityanath administration cannot be conducting the inquiry since the interests of BJP functionaries and senior government officials are allegedly involved.
“Yes, the UP government is appointing an inquiry commission to probe the allegations, who will be the ones conducting the investigation? These are officials at the district collector-level,” Gandhi said, demanding instead an “unbiased” inquiry headed by the Supreme Court.
“The temple is being built on the orders of the Supreme Court; so it is only natural that the inquiry, too, should be conducted at the level of the top court,” said the Congress leader.
