Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh): “Galti kar diye, vishwas kar liye zyada (He made a mistake trusting too much),” a functionary associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Uttar Pradesh, for more than two decades, told this reporter weeks before the trust running the Ram temple in Ayodhya accepted the resignations of its general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra.The VHP functionary was referring to Champat Rai, the man at the centre of a storm of allegations, raging since June 7, 2026, regarding the theft of the Ram temple funds. While eight of its employees have been arrested in the case so far, the finger of blame pointing at the trust itself – the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust set up in 2020 – is growing sharper.The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the international wing of the RSS, founded in 1964 by leaders associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its political wing, has been growingly vocal about the developments. In the past, the VHP reportedly played a central role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, and it has led communally divisive programmes such as ‘ghar-wapsi’ (anti-conversion) campaigns based on right-wing propaganda that Muslim men lure Hindu women for the purpose of religious conversion.The VHP also mobilised lakhs of kar sevaks (religious volunteers), who brought down the 16th-century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.“He [referring to Champat Rai] usually sleeps on the floor and prefers to have khichdi (a simple meal made from rice and lentils) for dinner. There are days when he is not able to eat at all, so usually dalia (porridge) is cooked around 4 pm. Whatever was done was the work of [the temple’s] employees. He had no knowledge of it,” says the VHP functionary, vouching for Rai, who is also VHP’s international vice president.When Rai adopted ‘maun’ (silence), communicated via a hand-written letter posted on X on July 6, some TV anchors fell for it. They hypothesised that the 80-year-old VHP pracharak or propagandist since 1991 “cannot be doubted”. Some declared that “his fate resembles that of former prime minister Manmohan Singh”, who too faced allegations of graft.The only problem with such simplistic conclusions is that they ignore the voices of dissent, now loud and growing even louder, starting with Ayodhya’s community of seers. They are speaking up in the wake of the investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Yogi Adityanath government on June 13, 2026 to probe the allegations of fraud and theft.The prime minister’s constant presenceOn February 5, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed Lok Sabha about his Cabinet’s decision to set up the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Home Minister Amit Shah lauded the decision on X the same day, writing that the trust would have 15 trustees, including one Dalit, and extending his congratulations to the prime minister “for taking such an unprecedented decision which will strengthen social harmony”.Three years later, in October 2023, Modi appeared in an official photograph standing alongside the trust’s then general secretary, Champat Rai and three other trustees, accepting an invitation to attend the consecration – ritual installation of the idol – on January 22, 2024.Shortly before this widely publicised ceremony, Champat Rai had described Modi “as an avatar (reincarnation) of Lord Vishnu and not a yajman (ordinary devotee) who needs to perform ceremonies for eight days.”Beyond this camaraderie between two Ram Bhakts lies the answer to a crucial question: why does the buck stop at PM Modi in the donations scam?Disgruntled former Faizabad Member of Parliament and Bajrang Dal founder Vinay Katiyar has named Champat Rai, trustee Anil Mishra and administrative official Gopal Rao as those “who may have to go to jail” in the theft case, and also claimed that he spoke “directly with prime minister Modi” about the issue over the phone.Meanwhile, the Congress party, in its latest salvo, has asked the prime minister to apologise “for picking up wrong members for the trust”.Champat Rai was also considered close to the former international president of VHP, Ashok Singhal, a hardline Hindutva leader who conceptualised the rath yatras, shilanyas and other events that mobilised masses of Hindus around the Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute. Old-timers in Ayodhya recall Rai as the one who did all the running around with legal files and coordinating with lawyers for the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. After Singhal’s death in 2015, he became a more prominent figure.Ashok Singhal (L), pictured during the Ramjanmbhoomi movement days with others involved in the project. Photo: Akanksha Kumar“When Praveenbhai Togadia drifted away, that’s when Champat-ji got this responsibility,” recalled the VHP functionary, who is based in UP. He said Rai cleared a “loyalty test” to Modi during the crucial 2018 VHP elections, when he aligned with the camp backed by the prime minister. That election marked the exit of the Gujarat-based former VHP international president and Modi critic, Praveen Togadia – a post Champat Rai held until July 6, 2026.Modi, who became prime minister in 2014, had once reprimanded leaders such as Togadia for hate speech, while the latter had publicly alleged that the prime minister was “conspiring for his encounter”.Ayodhya residents unforgiving in their hurtThere are also murmurs of discontent among Ayodhyawasis, locals hit by the drop in visits to the temple by 50% in the last week of June, as reported by The Wire.“From Rs 400 per day, earnings have come down to Rs 40,” said an auto driver, who makes a living by driving an auto on rent between Faizabad to Ayodhya.“Are we fit only to look after joota-chappals and sell prasad,” asked a sweet shop vendor near Hanumangarhi temple, his ire directed at outsiders dominating key positions within the Ram temple trust, while locals are ignored or restricted to peripheral roles – looking after devotees’ footwear, selling prasad and other religious items outside the temple and facilitating the movement of pilgrims.Ram Lalla souvenir idols and photos for sale at a shop in Ayodhya. Photo: Akanksha Kumar“Considering what has been happening in Ayodhya, people now look at us with disdain. Our Ayodhya has always been deceived and we feel cheated. Today what have these Gujaratis done that so much pain has been inflicted upon the Ayodhyawasis,” said advocate Raj Kapoor Singh, member of the Faizabad Bar Association, which recently approached the Ram Janmabhoomi Police Station with a fourth complaint demanding an FIR against Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao.The ‘Gujarati’ link here is the oft-repeated phrase used to emphasise the dominance of the BJP, which has now established itself in New Delhi’s power corridors, combined with the prime minister’s home state – Gujarat.A broad spectrum of voices has risen through this dispute, from an irate bar association to dissatisfied saffron seers who feel their due share has been snatched away ever since the Supreme Court ruling favoured building the Ram temple on the disputed site. There lies the real story of Ayodhya: a city in decline, treated like a treasure trove by the ruling party and its affiliates, the VHP and RSS, which refuse to cede control over the goose that lays the golden eggs – the Ram temple trust.In the two weeks since the controversy broke, followed by the arrests, The Wire spoke with more than a dozen people in Ayodhya, including mahants (priests), members of civil society in Faizabad and people associated with the accused, to connect the dots on how Champat Rai and Co. ran what critics describe as the Ram temple’s fiefdom ever since the 2024 consecration ceremony.Sidelining the 1990s Ram Janmabhoomi movementIn a narrow unpaved lane behind Tulsi Udyan near Ayodhya’s Naya Ghat area, amid a row of houses bearing inscriptions that say they were built in the 1970s, a temple dedicated to Sita is under construction.One evening, when the labourers were done for the day and had left, leaving mounds of sand and brick in the middle of an empty plot, we met Karpatri Maharaj. The priest associated with the 1990s Ram Janmabhoomi agitation lives in ‘Karpatri ki Kothri’, a small room in an old building near the new temple complex, parts of which are still under construction.Karpatri Maharaj, originally from UP’s Basti district, was among the lakhs of kar sevaks involved in the agitation for the Ram temple to be built. It was an experience he describes as “Ram ki sewa mein chot khayi hai (we were injured while serving Lord Ram).” He pointed at a scar visible on his right cheek, saying it is from demolishing the mosque in December 1992.He is angry with how the Ram temple trust is run, but even more, he blames Champat Rai for having sown the seeds of division among Ayodhya’s saints.“Whatever the VHP and RSS did, it was by keeping priests at the forefront. That’s how they accomplished their objectives and, once their goals were achieved, they abandoned us,” he told The Wire.“They thought, what’s the need for saints now that the [Supreme Court] order had come. A sense of dictatorship prevailed over them, so much so that even during the Ram Vivah, when it was suggested that Maharaja Dashrath should come, Champat Rai didn’t ask any sadhu; instead, he himself went as Dashrath!” he said.Karpatri Maharaj in his kothri, which means a small enclosed space, in Ayodhya. Photo: Akanksha Kumar“So this is his aukaat that he himself went as Dashrath to Janakpur. What Champat Rai has actually done is that he has caused factionalism among the sants in Ayodhya. The real Ram-Bhakt sants are protesting against him,” he said.Aukaat is a peculiar colloquialism in the Hindi belt, denoting a person’s financial as well as social status.The incident Karpatri Maharaj referred to took place in 2024, when Champat Rai participated in the Shri Ram Baraat Yatra ritual, travelling from Ayodhya to Janakpur in Nepal, considered to be the birthplace of Sita. Three hundred religious figures and VHP functionaries, and Ayodhya’s mayor and BJP leader Girish Pati Tripathi were in attendance.For Karpatri, the feeling of being repeatedly overlooked and humiliated led him to speak out in the wake of the fund theft case.Earlier, too, he told The Wire he was never issued a pass for an event attended by President Droupadi Murmu and alleged “there were dalal (middlemen) in the system of issuing passes who had become lakhpatis”.Karpatri’s rage against those at the helm of the Ram temple trust also stems from the life he has chosen: He eats meals in 18 small portions from an earthen vessel, restricts himself to wearing a single saffron loincloth and lives in a 15 x 10-foot room. But those in the VHP-RSS coterie have had a far easier path and accumulated wealth, which compels him to demand accountability.“Our only prayer to God is that the small fish have been trapped – when will the big fish be caught? If cancer is spread across the hand, merely severing fingers won’t help, the hand will have to be chopped off,” Karpatri told this reporter.Hiring only those close to the Sangh-VHP led to opacityA common strand in conversations among Ayodhya residents is how the hiring for the counting staff inside the temple premises took place and whether any filters were in place.“There have been no advertisements with respect to hirings. Either someone close to Champat Rai or close to Gopal [Rao] or another trustee have been called and given jobs. Tinnu Yadav was Champat Rai’s driver and used to ride a cycle, later an auto; today he owns properties worth crores,” said Karpatri Maharaj.Journalist Indu Bhushan Pandey, who has watched the situation unfold over time, echoed a similar sentiment.“Since there are seven or eight smaller temples inside the main temple complex, it was decided to hire 18-20 pujaris (priests). Accordingly, advertisements were placed in newspapers specifying the application process and the sanatani standards required for the position. There was a selection committee and even a training committee to sift through applications. But when it came to hiring for a place where crores of funds are coming in, no advertisement ever came out with respect to the counting staff,” Pandey said.“That is how this turned out to be a bharti ghotala (hiring scam) along with the financial scam,” he said.Such conversations support The Wire’s findings in ground reports in Minapur Fagauli village and Milkipur tehsil of Ayodhya, villages that came into the limelight because of the arrest of two residents who worked on the team that kept a score of donations at the temple.Subhash Srivastava (left), accused in the Ram temple donation fraud and theft case. Photo: Akanksha KumarThe Wire met Dharmendra Kumar Yadav, the pradhan pati (husband of an elected woman pradhan) in Basawan village, where the grandparents of one of the accused, Anukalp Mishra live. Yadav had said, referring to Anukalp, that he was “close to Champat Rai who had come to the village two years earlier for a Ram Katha function”. Yadav said Anukalp had been in touch with Champat Rai for two or three months before this function.Anukalp’s digital footprint also suggests bonhomie with Champat Rai, who appears on his Facebook timeline often – at a Bhagwad Katha programme in Basawan in April 2026, sharing the stage at another function in November 2025 alongside BJP leader and Ayodhya Mayor Girish Pati Tripathi and so on.Champat Rai (left) at Bhagwad Katha organised by Anukalp Mishra on April 30, 2026. Photo: Mishra’s Facebook.His Facebook profile also suggests he was an active member of the Bajrang Dal, an arm of the VHP, and an active participant at an RSS shakha.Proximity to the Sangh and local BJP leaders were also apparent when this reporter visited accused Subhash Srivastava’s house in Ayodhya’s Anjanipuram colony.Srivastava’s neighbours revealed his association with the Sangh, though Subhash’s own house was locked. Subhash was in charge of counting staff at the Ram temple and the SIT’s preliminary report says he was “responsible for allowing the informal arrangement of handing over keys to donation boxes and providing access to the hundis to unauthorised persons such as Tinnu Yadav”.“Earlier, he organised a regular shakha at the Ram Lila maidan nearby, and then at his house. As participants, we would be given tasks such as distributing akshat (a ritual mix of rice and turmeric) to households before the prime minister’s visit to the temple,” said Sanjay Pandey, the Srivastavas’ neighbour.Sanjay Pandey, neighbour of accused Subhash Srivastava. Photo: Akanksha KumarSanjay Pandey says Subhash worked with Syndicate Bank and that he was suspended for a couple of years before being reinstated sometime between 2010 and 2012. He retired in 2017 and thereafter took up a role at the temple.Battle for control over the temple within Sangh?But according to Faizabad-based senior journalist Indu Bhushan Pandey, the current episode is not just about a few individuals caught in the spotlight; it is about the deep internal faultlines within the RSS-VHP combine over who controls the trust coming out into the open.He draws a parallel between the VHP’s first internal election held in 2018 – 52 years after its formation in 1964 – which led to the showdown between Togadia and the camp backing Modi and the latest developments.“When those elections were announced – the first and one of their kind held within the VHP – it was first followed by an attack on Togadia. The Narendra Modi lobby had its own candidate while Togadia and VHP had its own. The PM wanted to wrest control over VHP,” he said.According to him, Champat Rai seemed to have “deceived” the VHP’s candidate when he endorsed the candidate put forward by the Modi-backed faction.Togadia’s candidate lost, while the rival faction’s Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje won. After the 2019 Supreme Court judgment, the Union government got to set up the Shri Ram Mandir Teerth Kshetra Trust as well. VHP, after 40 years of fighting for the temple, found itself sidelined.“This time, too, the fight is between the VHP and the government, or between the VHP and the RSS or between the VHP and the trust,” Indu Bhushan Pandey said.The infighting was on full display in the July 6 letter to the SIT from Champat Rai in which he claimed his signature was not taken in February 2025 before the cash counting process at the temple was approved. The letter has the signatures of trustee Anil Mishra and a State Bank of India official.This is the first part of a two-part series from Ayodhya examining the functioning of the Ram temple trust from the lens of local residents who interacted with the trustees and are familiar with its functioning and its former secretary, Champat Rai.