Ayodhya: Waiting for the declaration of new members of the Ram Temple Trust, the eight permanent trustees who gathered at Mani Ramdas Chhavni on Wednesday were in for a surprise when a request was made to defer the process by a few weeks.Though the special meeting convened at 3pm was specifically called to propose suitable candidates for the three vacant positions of permanent trustees, what prompted the senior office bearers of the Trust to postpone the decision was not immediately known.Instead of holding two separate meetings, the proceedings were divided into two sessions, with important deliberations taking place among only the eight permanent trustees during the first session.In the second session, invited members and personal aides of the trustees also participated, a source said.A close aide of one of the permanent trustees who accompanied him inside the premises said, “No names were discussed at all during the sessions. The convener of the meeting said more time would be required to induct new trustees and then moved on to the second session. The second agenda revolved around the findings that have emerged during the police investigation and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe.”Among the eight permanent trustees, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das (president of the Trust and head of Mani Ramdas Chhavni, where the meeting was held), interim general secretary and convener of Wednesday’s meeting Krishna Mohan, treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri, Mahant Dinendra Das, Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati, Swami Vishwa Prasannateerth and Yug Purush Parmanand Giri attended the meeting in person, while founder trustee K Parasaran, 98, joined virtually.Summarising the findings of the investigation so far, the board of trustees was briefed about the alleged role of certain staff members of the State Bank of India and security personnel in the donation theft case. The observations were subsequently recorded in the official proceedings of the Trust.The trustees also decided to appoint a public relations officer to help build a positive public image of the Trust. Suggestions to establish a platform through which devotees could seek information from the Trust in a transparent manner were also discussed.As the trustees were wrapping up the special meeting and preparing to move to the second session, Nirmohi Akhara chief Dinendra Das registered his protest against the role of Gopal Nagarakatte (Rao) in puja rituals performed in the temple.A prominent Ramanandi Vaishnav saint, Dinendra Das had earlier objected that the procedure followed by the Trust during puja rituals performed before Ram Lalla was not according to the tradition and had expressed resentment on multiple occasions over Nagarakatte’s growing influence in religious affairs associated with the temple.An RSS and VHP functionary from Karnataka, Nagarakatte used to attend Trust meetings as an invited member and was in charge of construction work within the 70-acre temple complex.Apart from former general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra, both of whom resigned last month, Nagarakatte was the third person authorised to issue VIP ‘darshan’ passes until July 5.Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, successor to Nritya Gopal Das; senior VHP functionary Dinesh Chandra, who has been a regular participant in previous meetings; and another senior VHP functionary, Bajrang Lal Bagra, were among those invited.Ayodhya district magistrate and ex-officio trustee Shashank Tripathi attended the meeting in person, while the other ex-officio members joined virtually.An accountant associated with the Trust’s treasurer, identified as Maniar, was also present.Discussions on the appointment of a chief executive officer, the formation of various committees and other important administrative matters were also taken up during the meeting.While several local saints and seers from Ayodhya were inducted in the religious committee constituted to carry out puja rituals, representation will be sought for Nirvani Ani Akhara (centered at Hanuman Garhi) in the upcoming meeting.A leading akhara from Ayodhya during the temple movement, a member of Nirvani Ani Akhara was not elected as a member of the committee.To streamline the pass system, the centralised dashboard through which ‘darshan’ passes are issued would be accessible to all the trustees. Login identities as well as passwords would be generated for all permanent trust members.
