Continuing his attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the alleged theft of offerings at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday asked who were the real culprits that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was allegedly protecting.“Mr. Modi personally constituted the trust, hand-picked every member and appointed his close aide Champat Rai to head Shri Ram Mandir. The entire sequence of events shows that the PM is trying to hush up the case and shield those responsible,” Mr. Kejriwal said.“The people of this country want to know whom you (PM) are protecting, why you are protecting them and what compels you to do so. The faith of crores of people has been deeply hurt,” the AAP chief added.Mr. Kejriwal alleged that everyone now accepts that theft of offerings was done at the Ram Mandir. “But will the real culprits — the influential and big names involved — ever be punished? Will they be arrested? Will any action be taken against them?” said Mr. Kejriwal.The AAP supremo asked whether the people of the country still believe that Mr. Modi will ensure the real culprits be punished. He said he has no evidence that any of the stolen money reached Mr. Modi. “But the entire sequence of events certainly shows that PM left no stone unturned in suppressing the matter, and protecting those responsible,” he said.He claimed that the Prime Minister personally constituted the trust and every member of that trust was personally chosen by him. “The trust consists of his own people. Mr. Rai is considered to be very close to the Prime Minister. PM appointed Mr. Rai as the general secretary and the key authority of the Shri Ram Mandir. He is regarded as the Prime Minister’s ‘own man’,” he said.Mr. Kejriwal alleged that those who resigned are still running the mandir. They have resigned on paper, but in reality the same people continue to control and manage it. “One of their senior leaders Brij Bhushan recently said on social media that if he spoke, many powerful names would emerge and that he feared the consequences. Which are these names that even Mr. Bhushan is afraid to reveal? Baba Bageshwar Dham also said that very powerful people are involved and speaking out could put him in trouble as well,” he said. Published - July 03, 2026 12:32 am IST