India / SC should probe Ayodhya land scam: Congress' Priyanka Gandhi

New Delhi: Firing a broadside at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the land deals in Ayodhya, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday alleged the pieces of land of Dalits, which could not have been purchased, were grabbed and demanded the Supreme Court must probe the matter.

Gandhi said almost every household in the country has donated something to the Ram Mandir Trust.

“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,” Gandhi said.

“Some pieces of land were of a lower value and were sold to the Trust at a very high price. It means that there is a scam regarding the money which was collected through the donation,” she added.

Escalating her attack on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government, the Congress general secretary said the matter is being probed at the level of district officers.

“The UP government said that they are ordering an inquiry. Who is probing it?...It is being probed at the level of district officers. Ram Mandir Trust was formed on basis of the Supreme Court verdict. So, it should be probed by SC,” she told a press conference, ANI reported.

Following reports that elected public representatives and relatives of state government officials bought land parcels in Ayodhya after the November 9, 2019, Supreme Court verdict clearing construction of a Ram temple in the district, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered an inquiry into transactions and sought a report within a week.

The state government’s revenue department has been asked to conduct an inquiry into the same.

“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the revenue department to probe the matter thoroughly,” PTI quoted Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Navneet Sehgal, as saying.

This came after The Indian Express in an exclusive report published earlier on Wednesday claimed that MLAs, mayors, relatives of the Commissioner, SDM and DIG bought land in Ayodhya after the apex court verdict on the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, which cleared the way for construction of the Ram Temple.