Money collected for Ram Mandir in 1988-89 was deposited in Swiss banks, alleges Congress

New Delhi: With the vexed issue of construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya gaining momentum, the Congress Party on Wednesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to give details of the funds collected in last 30 years for building the temple.

Congress leader Manish Tewari while talking to ANI pulled up the BJP over its 'ideological purity' for saying that people of the country wanted the temple to be constructed in Ayodhya.

"The people of BJP have no clue what the people of this country want, but they definitely want to win the elections in Uttar Pradesh by polarising the society. So, whenever there is an election around the corner, Ram Mandir is dragged off the shelf, dusted and presented to the people as a commitment of their ideological purity," he said.

"The larger question is how much money has been collected in the name of constructing Ram Temple between 1986 and 2016. What has happened to that money?" he asked.

The Congress leader further said that an Income Tax officer Bishwa Bandhu Gupta had allegedly come out with the report suggesting that around Rs. 600 crores collected in the name of Ram Mandir construction in 1988-89 was allegedly deposited in Swiss Bank account.

"So there has to be a proper enquiry as to what has happened to all that money which was collected over all these years to build Ram Temple," he added.

The Ram Temple-Babri Masjid issue returned to hog the limelight at the fag end of this year following arrival of a truckload of stones at the Ramsevak Puram workshop in Ayodhya. The arrival of the stones evoked a sharp reaction from the Muslim leaders.

Union Minister Mahesh Sharma had yesterday clarified BJP's stance on the issue of construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, saying his party and government had already given their opinion on the issue, that people of the country want the temple to be constructed as soon as possible.