After getting exposed for hurling fake and baseless corruption accusations on the Shriram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the purchase of the land for Ram Mandir, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) find themselves in a spot of bother. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) International Working President Alok Kumar on Monday said that defamation suits will be filed against the opposition parties who are trying to mislead people ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
“We have suggested the Trust to file defamation case against the persons leveling false allegations against Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls are round the corner that is why they are misleading the people with lies,” said Alok Kumar.
TFI had yesterday debunked the lies of AAP leader Sanjay Singh and SP leader Pawan Pandey when they used the old price of the property, agreed years before the deal was finalised to portray that the ultimate price of the temple land had been inflated by several crores.
राजनीतिक विद्वेष से प्रेरित लोग ज़मीन ख़रीद के सम्बंध में समाज को गुमराह करने के लिए भ्रामक प्रचार कर रहें हैं। pic.twitter.com/jfENrubyOp
— Champat Rai (@ChampatRaiVHP) June 13, 2021
Ravi Mohan Tiwari, one of the two property dealers, who sold the piece of land to the temple Trust, revealed that the agreement for the said land was made with the original owner of the land, Kusum Pathak several years ago for Rs 2 crore, but its value increased significantly after the Supreme Court’s decision. Tiwari said, “While I purchased it for Rs 2 crore as per my agreement, the actual price must be more than Rs 20 crore now. But I sold it for just Rs 18.5 crore because it is for a project concerned with our faith.”
The VHP President in his statement also remarked the same story, “The land was in the name of Kusum Pathak. A few years ago she had signed an agreement with Sultan Ansari and Ravi Mohan Tripathi in which she agreed to sell it for Rs 2 crore, which was the market rate of the land at the time.”
“Kusum Pathak was ready to sell it but she could not sell it because she had already entered into a deal. Meanwhile, both Sultan Ansari and Ravi Mohan Tripathi were also willing to sell it, but they couldn’t take that decision without the consent of Kusum and moreover they didn’t have any agreement to sell it,” added Alok Kumar.
It is imperative to note that Sanjay Singh is AAP’s in charge of UP and thus making the vile accusations to earn quick favour amongst the Hindu voters and provide a launchpad for AAP to open its account in the state.
While AAP and SP were the ones who started the misinformation campaign, the Congress party also jumped in the fray, looking to earn some political points. Randeep Surjewala, the party general secretary and spokesperson on Monday called the alleged irregularity in the purchase of land a “big scam” and said that Supreme Court should take cognisance of the issue and investigate the matter.
“The amount received as donations and expenses made by the trust should also be audited under the supervision of the Supreme Court,” said Surjewala.
Congress managed to win only 7 seats in the last assembly polls while SP fared a little better with 47 seats. As for AAP, the party is not even considered a rookie in the state. All three parties want to push Yogi and BJP out of the state and what better way to stoke anger amongst the voters against the ruling party than by using ‘Scam in the construction of Ram Mandir’ as an issue. However, with the defamation suit soon to be filed, it appears that the manoeuvre has backfired.