Those involved in theft at Ram temple will get cancer: BJP MLA

Unnao: A BJP MLA has stirred a controversy after a viral video purportedly showed him saying that those involved in the embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya would be afflicted with cancer and die a painful death.

Anil Singh, who represents the Purwa Assembly constituency in Unnao district, made the purported remarks at a BJP programme in Maurawan on Sunday.

In the video, the MLA is heard saying, “Those who have stolen from Lord Ram’s temple will directly get cancer. It will be a death sentence from God. Wait for a year, they will develop cancer.”

While the government would take legal action against those responsible, “Lord Ram will punish them in such a way that they will die a painful death, and their next seven generations will remember the consequences of stealing from the temple,” he stated in the video.

The alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya has sparked a political row in Uttar Pradesh.

The UP government on June 13 constituted the SIT on a request from the temple trust following allegations of misappropriation of donations.

Based on the SIT’s report, eight people — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ram Shankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav — were arrested.

Opposition parties have alleged that only small players were facing action and the main culprits were still free.

At the BJP programme, Singh had also targeted the Samajwadi Party, alleging that its leaders were involved in “grabbing land, selling ration meant for the poor and depriving the needy of their rights”.

He also claimed that Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav was facing a probe by the CBI and was now “compelled to invoke the name of Lord Ram”.