Tridib Raman
Once the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on the Ram Temple, preparations for establishing the ‘Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’ began immediately. The Trust was formally set up on 5 February 2020. At that time too, Uttar Pradesh was under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, who wanted the state’s Chief Minister to be the ex-officio Chairman of this Trust, on the pattern of the Somnath Temple Trust in Gujarat. According to sources, Yogi conveyed his wishes on this matter to Delhi. But Delhi had something else in mind. The Centre’s argument was that “this Trust should not only function under the Centre’s supervision but should also be fully under the Centre’s control.” Examples cited were the ‘Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’, whose ex-officio Chairman is the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, and which includes retired bureaucrats or IAS officers such as Baleshwar Rai and Dr Ashok Bhan as members; and the ‘Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board’, where an IAS officer, M. Ravi Chandra, serves as the Chief Administrator, with the District Collector of Tirupati and the Principal Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Endowments Department also present as members. The Centre wanted the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust to be constituted on similar lines. When the Trust was finally established, 12 of its 15 members were nominated by the Government of India; the remaining three were selected in its first meeting. From the Centre’s side, IAS officer and former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Nripendra Misra, was made Chairman of the Temple Construction Committee. In addition, IAS Sanjay Prasad as the representative of the Uttar Pradesh government, IAS Prashant Lokhande as the representative of the Central government, and the District Magistrate of Ayodhya were made ex-officio members. If one looks at this entire process from the official standpoint of the Centre, it becomes clear how Yogi’s requests and intentions were set aside. Thus, knowingly or unknowingly, Yogi’s entire attention remained fixed on the construction of the Ram Temple, so he would certainly have been aware of the irregularities and scandals within it. Sources say that on this matter Yogi was continuously taking feedback from the state’s intelligence agencies. It is also said that the intelligence agencies themselves prepared a dossier on the entire affair and handed it over to him. It is further claimed that Yogi informed the Prime Minister about this dossier, and that the PM, for his part, spoke of ordering an investigation into the whole matter at his level and asked Yogi to remain quiet until then. But somehow the talk of “chanda chori” (donation theft) leaked out and has today become such a big issue.
An Old Story and Crumbling New Beliefs
Tridib Raman
Just a few days ago I met a senior BJP leader. When asked how he viewed the party’s defeats in Bankipur and Datia in the context of the ‘chanda chori’ issue, the Gen-Z movement and the UGC, he narrated an old story in reply. According to the leader: Long ago, in a certain town, there lived a wealthy Seth. The Seth placed complete, blind trust in his munim (accountant). With the passage of time, when the munim arranged his daughter’s wedding and every ceremony concluded successfully, the thought came to him that he should thank God for making the occasion a success. He went to the Seth, folded his hands in request and said he wished to go for darshan to a certain siddha temple. The Seth readily agreed and, on his own behalf, also gave the munim 101 rupees (a very large sum in those days), saying, “Deposit this donation in the offering box there on my behalf as well, and seek the Lord’s blessings for me too.” The temple was far away. The munim set out on foot towards another town where that miraculous temple stood. He had not gone far when he met a poor man whose family head had just died and who had no money for the last rites. The munim immediately helped that poor family. A little further on, in the bitter cold, he saw a woman shivering without a blanket in a roadside hut; he gave her money to buy a blanket. Performing many such acts of charity along the way, when the munim finally reached the temple he found that all his own money was gone and he had also spent the Seth’s hundred rupees. He had only one rupee left. Putting that single rupee into the donation box, he folded his hands, asked God to forgive his mistake, and said he would soon arrange the remaining hundred rupees from somewhere and put them in the box. On his return, when the munim met the Seth he joined both hands in shame and sought forgiveness, saying, “Sethji, I have made a mistake; I will soon arrange the money and deposit it in the donation box.” The Seth replied calmly, “I know. Last night God appeared in my dream and told me that He had received only a hundred rupees.” The munim was left dumbfounded: “But I put only one rupee in the donation box!” The Seth, however, refused to listen to anything he said. The leader laughed and said, “You are intelligent; now you can connect this entire episode with the Ram Mandir donation matter”.
Yogi Is Not Easy to Sideline
There is something that has suddenly made Yogi Adityanath rankle so much in Delhi’s eyes. Sources say that the search for alternatives to him has never been completed. It is said that only recently, at the initiative of a senior leader from Delhi, a public-opinion survey was conducted across the entire Uttar Pradesh asking: “What will happen if the BJP contests the 2027 elections without Yogi’s face?” The results of the survey dazzled Delhi’s eyes: “Without Yogi, everything is empty.” In other words, Yogi has also made Delhi realise how large his fan following is in Uttar Pradesh. The latest episode is linked to the address of Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel in which, at the convocation ceremony of Gorakhpur University, she targeted the poor hostel facilities and directly attacked Yogi. The Governor raised questions about the lack of mess facilities in the hostel and publicly expressed her displeasure, saying: “Where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself is present (virajman), how can such deficiencies exist?” Note that the use of the word “virajman” carried a special kind of warning for Yogi. Within 24 hours Yogi struck back in his rally in Ambedkar Nagar, taking aim at the superstitions surrounding Noida and declaring: “The chair that is to go tomorrow, let it go today.” In other words, Yogi too is not among those who lay down their arms.
Sangh’s Newfound Gen-Z Love
The recent student movement at Jantar Mantar has changed the thinking of several political parties and of the heroes and anti-heroes who scripted it. In the race to establish direct dialogue with Gen-Z and Alpha generations, some are wrestling with camera angles while the lofty intentions of many others are melting like wax. On 6 August itself, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was holding a direct interaction with more than 2,000 children aged between 15 and 19 at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai. Bhagwat declared the Gen-Z and Alpha generations more patriotic and honest than the earlier ones. This caravan of the RSS chief’s dialogue with Gen-Z is not going to stop here; the organisation is now trying to hold similar interactions in more than 100 cities across the country with Bhagwat in the lead. You can treat this as a new strategy of the Sangh to woo the Gen-Z vote. Apart from this, both the RSS and the BJP are identifying influencers across the country who exercise a direct hold over the Gen-Z generation; preparations are on to colour such YouTubers and reel-makers in saffron. But has it ever been so easy to win over the Gen-Z and Alpha generations?
PK Back in Business
After giving a glimpse of his new political intentions in the Bankipur by-election, Prashant kishor has once again returned to his old avatar. The Bankipur election result came on 3 August. Just two days later PK was in Mumbai, where a meeting with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar had already been fixed. The moment PK landed at the airport he headed straight for Sunetra’s residence ‘Devgiri’, where Sunetra and her son Parth Pawar were already waiting for him. The meeting is said to have lasted nearly five hours. It may be noted that this is PK’s second meeting with Sunetra and Parth in the past three months. It is also believed that, in broad terms, PK has agreed to be kept as Sunetra’s political adviser. In fact, Sunetra and Parth want PK’s support to expand Ajit Pawar’s NCP and to give shape to its future plans. It is also being said that in the present times Devendra Fadnavis, who has emerged as Sunetra’s mentor, is not at all happy about the closeness between PK and NCP (Ajit Pawar). It is understood that he has told Sunetra bluntly: “How can you keep as your adviser a person who has reached here after defeating the BJP and harbouring enmity towards it?”
Mridul’s One Mistake
Elections to the Supreme Court Bar Association are scheduled for 18 August. In the race for the president’s post there is a tough contest among senior advocates Anupam Lal Das, Gaurav Bhatia, Siddharth Mridul and the association’s former vice-president Pradeep Rai. Sources say that at present Siddharth Mridul’s side of the scale is a little heavier. Mridul has been the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court. While he was a judge, allegations were levelled against him of running a gas agency named ‘Kitchen Flame’ for 16 years. It is said that BPCL had suspended his dealership for violation of rules. The gas agency had been allotted to Mridul in 1984 when he was merely a lawyer in the Delhi High Court. He became a judge of the Delhi High Court in March 2008 and was elevated as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court in October 2023. Yet even while serving as a judge he did not shut down his gas agency, whereas under transparency rules judges are required to disclose their shareholding in companies.
From Power to Waiting Room
Ever since the Gen-Z movement snatched away Dharmendra Pradhan’s chair, it is as if the very glow has disappeared from his face. Even though, after resigning, when he arrived at Parliament House, BJP MPs welcomed him with slogans and presented him with flower garlands. But now, after so much time has passed, a sharp decline can be seen in the list of visitors meeting Pradhan. Even those who had been waiting for months just for a meeting with him are now managing to get appointments fixed. These days he is hardly seen in Delhi or Parliament House; most of his time is being spent elsewhere. His eyes remain firmly fixed on the Odisha Chief Minister’s chair. It is believed that he has even received assurances from the BJP’s Chanakya on this front, but the Prime Minister is simply not melting.