Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president ‘upset’ over not being included in trust

Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das has 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 on Thursday 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 p.m. and a press conference at 5 p.m., Mr. Mishra said.

Later, the two scheduled events were cancelled as the temple management received a phone call from the Ministry of Home Affairs, said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, the designated successor to Nritya Gopal Das.

Mr. 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”. Mr. Gupta 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, on Thursday started an indefinite fast in protest in Chandauli.