RSS And VHP Are At Loggerheads On The Issue Of Loot Of Ram Mandir Funds

The Loot of the huge funds and jewelleries from the coffers of Ram Mandir Trust has led to intensification of factional battles between the VHP and the RSS on the one hand and the RSS-BJP on the other. Interestingly, insiders say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken his position supporting the VHP as against the RSS in this tussle within the Hindutva eco-system.

It is indeed deplorable that instead of identifying and punishing the plunderers, the rightist RSS, its allies and the protagonists of Hindutva politics are engaged in the bitter mud-slinging and shifting the responsibility. What is most intriguing is the passive silence of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who has the habit of issuing statements on any issue and of the prime minister Narendra Modi. One thing is however quite apparent that the saffron stake holders are busy using the scam for taking control of the temple and projecting them as the Hindu face of the country. What is worse is the stake holders are making all kind of attempts to whitewash the sin and let the sinner go scot-free.

RSS and Narendra Modi have been the prime stake holders. Modi who took pride of being the Hindu Hridaya Samrat by consecrating the Ram Lala statue at the temple and performing the task of Zajman (host of the rituals) is using the theft to take control of the temple through Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. He is contemplating to have his blue-eyed bureaucrat Nripendra Mishra as the full-time Chief Executive Officer on the plea of having a professional administrator. RSS which runs the Trust, which in turn manages the temple is reluctant to withdraw and allow Modi to rule. In the war the VHP is playing the crucial role by coming out openly in support of Modi, of course in an oblique manner.

While RSS foiled the initial move of installing Mishra as the CEO by bringing in Krishna Mohan as the acting general secretary, in place of Champat Rai, the VHP has challenged the authority of RSS by deciding to hold its crucial meeting in Delhi on July 17-18. Since some key officials of Trust are from VHP, the meeting should have been held in Ayodhya. But to register its protest the VHP decided to shift the venue to Delhi. VHP has also been toeing the line of Modi, who questioned the functioning of Trust and wanted to install Mishra as the CEO.

The crucial meeting of the Trust which took place in Ayodhya on July 6, 2026 witnessed the worst kind of clash between the RSS and its ally VHP. The meeting accepted the resignations of general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra, and appointed Krishna Mohan as the acting general secretary. Mohan is a retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer. Being a bureaucrat he is close to Modi, but has been associated with RSS for long and has served in various organizational roles in Uttar Pradesh, before being inducted into the Ram Temple Trust in September 2025.

What was most significant was the Trust meet did not censor Champat Rai for abdication of responsibility and duty and allowing the embezzlement to take place before his eyes. On the contrary, the participants at the meet sang peans for him, they eulogised his stewardship. This was nevertheless perceived as a victory for RSS, which had come under scanner following the bust of the scam. The meet nevertheless made it explicit that the feud inside the saffron ecosystem in the wake of expose of the huge embezzlement has been virtually the extension of the old personality clash between Modi and Bhagwat.

While Modi intends to exploit the exposure of the scam for his electoral gains, RSS has its existence and identity at stake in the entire Hindi heartland and faces the threat of losing the tag of the right-wing, Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organization which serves as the ideological and organizational core of the Sangh Parivar, a vast network of affiliate groups that includes India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The organization is driven by the concept of Hindutva—an ethno-nationalist ideology that defines Indian culture and national identity primarily through the lens of Hinduism. It envisions India as an overtly Hindu nation-state (Rashtra) rather than a secular republic. With Trust under its firm control, RSS would have a complete control on all the temples, like Kashi Vishwanath, Mathura, home to thousands of temples, but the most important and sacred is the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Temple, which marks the exact birthplace of Lord Krishna.

Being in power has been an advantage for Narendra Modi. VHP was quite vocal against the Trust functioning and demanded a thorough probe into the scam. It was echoing the stand of Modi. The VHP international president Alok Kumar said, “There was donation theft there. Who wasn’t saddened and hurt by it? This is shameful. All such thieves and their gang should be identified, arrested and jailed. Learning from this incident, the system there should be strengthened so that not even paisa can be stolen…He has also cautioned society against vultures who see an opportunity for themselves in this for 2027 UP Elections and are attempting to defame Hindutva”. His message was clear and loud.

The VHP is taking a combative stance in the Ayodhya Ram Temple donation theft investigation. Kumar wrote a letter to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the theft requesting that public figures—including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh—be summoned to provide evidence for their claims of financial irregularities. Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, criticized the VHP’s demands as “the pot calling the kettle black,” and accused the organization of trying to shift the spotlight away from the Trust’s own internal accountability and the Modi government’s role in setting it up.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has said it is not responsible for the alleged donation theft at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and will wait for the outcome of the ongoing investigation before deciding whether to take any action against its international vice president, Champat Rai. He said the alleged theft had deeply hurt the sentiments of Hindus worldwide but stressed that the organisation had no role in the temple’s administration.

Trust has set up a search committee to appoint a CEO for overhauling the donation system and restore the faith of devotees. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), while open to the idea of a professional CEO, has reiterated its opposition to direct bureaucratic or government control of the shrine. The sequence of events surrounding the leak and the theft scandal highlights several key factors. Though a whistle blower had busted the scam in 2021, the trustees did not take the revelation seriously. The scandal eventually became widely publicized in May 2026 due to internal infighting among Trust members regarding recruitment and stolen funds. PM who had come to know of the scam leaked it. It was a tactical move of Modi to protect himself from facing public outrage and criticism. Trust has been brain child of Modi and he had handpicked the trust members and is accountable for the alleged breaches of trust.

Though VHP has not accepted any difference with the RSS, its decision to shift its Central Management Committee meeting to New Delhi for July 18 and 19 amid the Ram temple donation controversy, replacing an earlier five-day plan in Ayodhya from June 25 to 29, has given rise to doubt about its relation with the RSS. His demand of action against the persons, obviously Trust members, in the scam has simply strengthened the perception that it has thrown its weight behind Modi.

As the news first broke, both the VHP and the RSS initially distanced themselves from the allegations. The Trust and its senior members downplayed or attempted to limit the public fallout, and early reports indicated a desire to contain the issue to prevent political damage. Following the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe initiated by the UP government and growing public outrage, the RSS officially broke its month-long silence. RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale acknowledged that the incident “deeply hurt” devotees but simultaneously cautioned against “anti-Hindu forces” exploiting the controversy for political gain in the upcoming 2027 UP Elections.

Tensions between the VHP and the parent RSS recently resurfaced in the administration of the Ayodhya Ram Temple. Following allegations of donation embezzlement and discrepancies in temple funds, the VHP demanded a police investigation and questioning of Opposition leaders who highlighted the issue. The RSS, however, publicly urged for patience, restraint, and an overhaul of financial management to protect the integrity of the institution. VHP also urged the Hindu society to show “necessary patience and restraint to thwart the conspiracies of anti-Hindu and anti-national forces seeking to malign the Hindu dharma and society by exploiting this unfortunate incident.” For taking out the Trust from the grip of RSS, demands are also made by some allies to reconstitute the Trust. Kumar also raised the issue of Internal Accountability, Trust Reorganization and Political Pressure.

A public rift has emerged between the RSS and the VHP over alleged administrative failures and the embezzlement of donations at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The RSS took a hardline stance against the VHP-dominated Trust. RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale expressed that the organisation was “extremely pained and angered”. He openly criticized the Trust, demanding that it treat the incident as “extraordinary” and overhaul its management to address operational shortcomings. No doubt VHP dominates the Trust, it is a fact that it is run and managed by the RSS. (IPA Service)