Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded clarification from the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust and other leaders amid charges of corruption being raised regarding the purchase of the land for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Raut said that the Ram Mandir is a matter of faith for the Shiv Sena and the common people of the country. “Lord Ram and the fight for the Ram Mandir is a matter of faith for us. For some, it is a political matter. The Trust formed for the construction of the temple should clarify if the allegations are true or false,” Raut was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

“The temple's 'bhoomipujan' ceremony was also attended by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. They should also speak out. Ram temple is a matter of faith. People have made donations out of faith. Even Shiv Sena had contributed ₹1 crore to the Trust,” he further added.

He said that there is no use in having faith if the money taken for building the temple has been misused and demanded that it should be investigated if the allegations are right or wrong. It was AamAadmi party MP Sanjay Singh who had claimed that the ShriramJanmabhoomiTeerthKshetraTrust general secretary ChampatRai had purchased a piece of land worth ₹2 crores at an inflated price of ₹18.5 crores for the Ram Temple and was aided by Trust’s member Anil Mishra.

AAP’s RajyaSabha member Sanjay Singh and a former minister in the Samajwadi government, PawanPandey who also demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate initiate a probe into the land purchase. ShriramJanmabhoomiTeerthKshetra Trust general secretary ChampatRai dismissed the claims and said that the allegations were being motivated by political hatred.

Raut said that spoke to Sanjay Singh and was ‘shocked by the evidence’ provided by Singh. Raut also pointed out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appointed the members of the Trust. He said that the Shiv Sena should be included in the members’ body as they were also an important part of the Ram Mandir agitation. “Representatives of organizations like the Shiv Sena should have been included in the body as the Sena had participated in the agitation for the construction of the Lord Ram's temple… That was our earlier demand,” Raut said.