{"id":31156,"date":"2026-07-05T15:11:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T09:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/ayodhya-donation-controversy-vote-chori-seat-chori-chanda-chori-congress-attacks-bjp-over-ayodhya-donation-row-india-news\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T15:11:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T09:41:41","slug":"ayodhya-donation-controversy-vote-chori-seat-chori-chanda-chori-congress-attacks-bjp-over-ayodhya-donation-row-india-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/ayodhya-donation-controversy-vote-chori-seat-chori-chanda-chori-congress-attacks-bjp-over-ayodhya-donation-row-india-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayodhya Donation Controversy: \u2018Vote chori, seat chori, chanda chori\u2019: Congress attacks BJP over Ayodhya donation row | India News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-132192918,imgsize-978453,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/congress-attacks-bjp.jpg\" alt=\"\u2018Vote chori, seat chori, chanda chori\u2019: Congress attacks BJP over Ayodhya donation row\" title=\"File photo: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh (Picture credit: PTI)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"File photo: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh (Picture credit: PTI)\">File photo: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh (Picture credit: PTI)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the BJP and the RSS over the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, calling it a \u201cscam\u201d carried out by the BJP-RSS ecosystem and questioning the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the BJP\u2019s politics now revolved around a three-pronged strategy of \u201cvote chori, seat chori, chanda chori\u201d (vote theft, seat theft and donation theft), reported news agency PTI.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>Ramesh also criticised the RSS for its response to the controversy, calling its statement \u201cdisgraceful and shameful\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>He alleged that the organisation, which often claims to uphold integrity and nationalism, had failed to address the seriousness of the allegations.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><b>Demands Supreme Court-monitored probe<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>Claiming that donations worth \u201cthousands of crores\u201d had been siphoned off, Ramesh demanded an inquiry monitored by a sitting Supreme Court judge and strict action against all those found guilty.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>\u201cDonations running into thousands of crores have been siphoned off. Of course, there should be an inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge, of course the toughest action should be taken against all the accused but the silence of the prime minister and the home minister is shocking,\u201d he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>Ramesh argued that Prime Minister Modi, who had taken credit for the construction and inauguration of the Ram Temple on January 22, 2024, should publicly respond to the controversy.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>\u201cWe expect the prime minister, who took credit for building the Ram Temple&#8230; to make a statement. They have been completely silent,\u201d he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><b>BJP-RSS ecosystem under fire<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>The Congress leader linked the alleged donation irregularities with the BJP\u2019s past funding practices, referring to the now-scrapped electoral bonds scheme.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>\u201cRemember the electoral bond scheme. It was struck down by the Supreme Court. Hundreds of crores were collected \u2013 \u2018chanda do dhanda lo\u2019. So this whole \u2018chanda business\u2019 is part of the BJP&#8217;s DNA,\u201d Ramesh alleged.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>He further claimed that members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust were closely associated with the BJP-RSS ecosystem and questioned whether senior leaders were unaware of what had allegedly taken place.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>\u201cTo think that the RSS did not know what is happening, to think that the PM and HM did not know what was happening, is beyond imagination,\u201d he said, adding that the \u201cwhole enterprise was a political enterprise\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>Ramesh also questioned the role of former principal secretary to the Prime Minister Nipendra Mishra, saying the system was \u201ca tightly-locked, interconnected ecosystem\u201d where \u201cnothing escapes the other&#8217;s attention\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"39\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><b>Probe underway after FIR and arrests<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"41\"\/>The alleged embezzlement came to light after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government submitted its preliminary findings. An FIR was registered on June 25.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"43\"\/>Police have arrested eight accused in the case. Investigators have also recovered nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash, along with some foreign currency, from six of the accused, while the probe remains ongoing.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"45\"\/>Reiterating the party&#8217;s stand, Ramesh alleged that the case represented \u201ca ghotala, a scam perpetrated by the BJP-RSS ecosystem\u201d, and again criticised the continued silence of Prime Minister Modi and home minister Shah, according to PTI.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"47\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-type=\"in_view\" class=\"  \">\n<div class=\"sQLTU timeline_pollWrapper_as  \" data-scrollga=\"scroll#poll_view\">\n<div>\n<p>What do you think about the response of the RSS to the controversy?<\/p>\n<div class=\"iN00Z\">\n<div class=\"eG6Oq\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<div class=\"W30C0\">\n<p>3k+ users shared opinion today<!-- --> <span class=\"vIYbn\"\/><\/p>\n<p>5k+ users already voted today<!-- --> <span class=\"vIYbn\"\/><\/p>\n<p>3k+ users shared opinion today<!-- --> <span class=\"vIYbn\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/polls\/what-do-you-think-about-the-response-of-the-rss-to-the-controversy\/pollopinions\/132193010.cms?src=articleshow\" class=\"pd_MH\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Share Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/vote-chori-seat-chori-chanda-chori-congress-attacks-bjp-over-ayodhya-donation-row\/articleshow\/132192751.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>File photo: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh (Picture credit: PTI) NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the BJP and the RSS over the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, calling it a \u201cscam\u201d carried out by the BJP-RSS ecosystem and questioning the silence of Prime Minister [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-country"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}