Published 06:40 IST, February 7th 2020
Nritya Gopal Das 'upset' over not being included in trust; BJP leaders pacify him
Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das indicated that he was upset with not being appointed to the trust charged with building temple
Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das on Thursday indicated that he was upset with not being appointed to the trust charged with building the temple, prompting the BJP to rush in three leaders to pacify him. The BJP top brass in Lucknow sent Ayodhya party MLA Ved Prakash Gupta, Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay and Ayodhya Mahanagar President Abhishek Mishra to the Mani Ram Das temple here.
The seers at the temple stopped the leaders from entering inside and forced them to return. Soon, the Mahant called an emergency meeting of seers at 3 pm and a press conference at 5 pm, Mishra said. Later, the temple management told that the meeting that the press conference was cancelled as they had received a phone call from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, the designated successor to Nritya Gopal Das, said.
Gupta told PTI that he had arranged for a telephonic conversation between the Mahant and Home Minister Amit Shah and for a phone call from Lucknow as well. He claimed that three posts were still vacant in the trust and the Mahant will be "adjusted". He said they had managed to pacify the seer.
The Mahant had earlier said that those who gave their lives to the temple movement had been ignored. Kamal Nayan Das claimed that the Vaishnav Samaj had been completely ignored in the trust and said that they do not accept it. Mahant Paramhas Das of Tapasvi Chavni, who had proposed the name of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as the head of the trust, started an indefinite fast in protest in Chandauli.
PM Modi announced formation of mandir trust
In a massive development on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a trust for the development of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He made this declaration on the floor of the Lok Sabha. The trust will be called as 'Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra'. This move comes nearly three months after the SC ruling on the Ayodhya land dispute. Moreover, 5 acres land in Ayodhya will be handed over to the Sunni Central Waqf Board.
PM Modi said, "In line with the SC judgment, an independent trust called ‘Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra' has been formed. This trust will be empowered to take decisions pertaining to the construction of the Ram temple. The UP government has agreed to hand over 5 acres of land to the Sunni Central Waqf Board."
Updated 06:40 IST, February 7th 2020