Ram temple donation row: Confusion over VP Champat Rai quitting temple trust post; no info, says VHP

LUCKNOW: Even as eight persons accused of embezzling donations at the Ram Temple were sent to jail on Friday, there was daylong confusion over resignations by Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) vice-president Champat Rai as general secretary and Anil Mishra as trustee of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.But neither the trust nor the VHP confirmed or denied it till late evening. VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal told TOI that the organisation had no information about Rai’s resignation from the post.TOI made repeated attempts to contact Rai and Mishra for their response but they remained unavailable.The confusion prevailed amid the buzz that there was pressure on Rai and Mishra to quit their posts on moral grounds following the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) premilinary report flagging “serious” irregularities in the handling of temple donations.Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, too, has asserted that “no guilty will be spared” in the case.Some reports said that supporters of Rai and Mishra fanned the ‘speculation’ of the duo’s resignation from the trust.