Ram Temple donation funds Chori !! ::: What is now required is an elaborate FIR against Champat Rai and Anil Mishra and others ... and due process of law

My second book on Gujarat came in 2012.  'Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth' got rave reviews. 

One lovely commentary came in an article by French scholar Christophe Jaffrelot for 'Indian Express'. The article was later taken in website 

https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/posts/2014/03/modi-of-the-middle-class too. 

Jaffrelot wrote - The “positive” reasons (on why middleclass votes for Modi) are more interesting. 

"First, a section of the middle class perceives Narendra Modi as a super-CEO. One of his biographers, Nirendra Dev, points out that he “functions like a modern day CEO laying emphasis on the outcome and often allegedly putting the rules and normal norms in the backburner” (Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth, 2012)."

This image of Modi, of course -- relied on a whole set of beliefs: 

he (Namo) is less a politician than a manager 

(an assumption harking back to his past career as an organisation man, a Pracharak) and he is for the liberalisation of the economy.

In the past decade, Modi did claim that he would transform Gujarat into “the SEZ of India” --- this was as early as 2007.

"This last quality has affinities with the middle class’s trust in the private sector to modernise the economy. The upper layer of this class already lives in new towns where education, health, security, water, electricity etc are privatised."

Credit is always linked to Credibility and Modi knows it more than anyone 

The French scholar goes on -- 

"If the middle class wants a super-CEO at the helm of India, it is also because it does not valorise parliamentary democracy as much as before, compared to a more managerial decision-making process. 

In 2008, the CSDS survey on the State of Democracy in South Asia showed that in India, 51 per cent of the respondents from the “elite” “strongly agreed” and 29 per cent “agreed” with the proposition: “All major decisions about the country should be taken by experts rather than politicians”. 

Among interviewees from the “mass”, 29 per cent “strongly agreed” and 22 per cent “agreed”, probably because they were not prepared to undermine one of their main assets: numbers.  

Workers are pictured at the construction site of Ram temple in Ayodhya on Dec. 29, 2023 

With this temple funds 'chori' row - the middleclass again wants PM Narendra Modi to 'act' -- directly or  indirectly. 

And this expectation is not out of place. 

Firstly and simpler way to look at it -- is the Ram Temple at Ayodhya is more than just a temple. It is not only a symbol of Hindu pride; it is linked to Civilisational core values of Hindus. This is what the Hindutva school wanted.  

To take the debate further - we may say -  'New and grand Ram temple symbolizes Hindu resurgence'.  

It seemed like a pipedream in 1990 -- then as India was wedded to strong secular (sickular) and ultra-left ideologies. 

In the Christian-dominated northeast region, we never thought we would see a temple coming up in Ayodhya in our lifetime.

I met Ashutosh Talukdar, an officegoer from Guwahati city in Assam state, in January 2024. Talukdar remembered contributing Rs 500, which would have amounted to $50 in 1983, for making the bricks that would be used to build the Ayodhya temple.

Staunch Hindus and admirers of Vajpayee-Advani duo believed the BJP would help restore the temple and their support propelled the party to 85 seats in the 543-seat in 1989 from a mere two seats four years ago.   

L K Advani had launched a Ram rath yatra (chariot journey -- as we all know and the rest is history. In the meantime, Sickularism-smitten Mulayan Singh Yadav (Akhilesh's father) ordered opening guns shots on Kar sevaks. 

Blogger - Ayodhya pilgrimage - March 2024 

This is what I wrote last year.

March 19th, 2025 was Wednesday. There was no important Hindu tithi -- or pooja day. There was no much crowd as locals in the holy township said, -- still "Indian crowd" is always there. The desi version is -- Bhir !!

There's no running away from reality.  But the pilgrim day for me turned uniquely successful. A day to celebrate and cherish.

But it is also the day of Learning. A day -- one can recognise the potential of Hindu assertion. It is also significant from the Civilisational perspective. 

But when it came to fund /donation theft allegations. things did not quite move in the right manner and the right speed. The Temple Trust executives and even the Yogi Govt may give their argument; but the fact remains the 'credibility' has been hit. 

It hurt Hindus and other devotees and admirers of Lord Ram. Now the corrective steps should be - first a proper FIR and real accountability fixed on Anil Mishra and Champat Rai. So far eight people have been arrested; and hence more arrests should follow. 

In all these -- I come to the part -- I started with --- CEO Modi/Namo should deliver. 

It's simple; people have very high expectations of Modi when it comes to Hindu ethos and the civilisational pride.