The head of India’s opposition Congress party in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Rai, alleged that he was held by police authorities at his hotel in the northern city of Ayodhya, just as he arrived with a party delegation on Monday to visit the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir amid an ongoing graft row.

“The BJP government’s dictatorship has reached its peak!” Rai said in a post on X, blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for the ‘arrest’.

“I had just arrived in Ayodhya when the BJP government got so scared that the police arrested me from the hotel and are taking me away in their jeep,” he said in the post.

The government did not immediately comment on Rai’s claims.

Rai’s post included a video which showed the regional opposition leader seated on a chair in a hotel room while at least two police officers in uniform stood by.

The leader questioned the officers why the government had an issue with him offering prayers at the temple. Officers, cordial and smiling, said they would ensure he offered prayers but requested him to understand their position.

Rai’s wife released a video statement late on Monday night saying she feared for his safety.

Claims of donation theft

Rai and a larger Congress party delegation were scheduled to visit the Ram Mandir on Tuesday, amid a growing controversy over claims that donations to the temple have been embezzled. It is unclear if opposition politicians will now visit the temple.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir is a symbol of success for India’s ruling Hindu nationalist government.

The construction of the temple itself was controversial as it was built on the grounds of the Babri mosque, demolished by violent Hindu nationalist mobs in 1992. Building this grand temple was a central promise of Modi and his ministers’ campaign before coming to power in 2014 and then again in 2019.

The temple trust was set up under the Home Ministry’s notification, and its trustees include known associates of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government.

Opposition leaders and critics are now trying to draw links between the Modi government and the alleged theft, with the controversy turning into a political battleground between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and opposition parties.

PM Modi is yet to comment on the issue.

Uttar Pradesh state officials are currently looking into the graft allegations. On Monday, a local court in Ayodhya sent all accused in the so-called donation scam to two weeks of judicial custody, according to a Hindustan Times report.

DW