Pappu Yadav Defiant After FIR Over Ram Temple Skit Alleging Donation Theft

Independent MP Rajesh Ranjan and other Opposition MPs protested in Parliament over the issue of alleged Ayodhya Ram Mandir donations embezzlement on Friday.

NEW DELHI: Independent MP Pappu Yadav on Sunday remained defiant after Varanasi Police registered a case against him, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Awadhesh Prasad over a Parliament skit depicting the alleged theft of donations from the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Pappu Yadav, whose real name is Rajesh Ranjan, said he was "ready to face death" to protect people's faith from those who "betray Sanatan and God." "If Pappu Yadav has to die to protect the faith of the people of Sanatan and India against those who betray Sanatan and God, I step out every day ready to face death," the Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Purnia seat told reporters on Sunday. "Do I not have the right to wear saffron?... Rahul Gandhi was never afraid of an FIR; Priyanka Gandhi was never afraid; so how could Pappu Yadav be afraid?" he asked. Pappu Yadav's remarks came a day after Varanasi Police registered an FIR against him, Rahul Gandhi and Awadhesh Prasad following a complaint by a religious leader. Another complaint has also been filed against the Purnia MP by petitioner Surya Maithil at Jehangirpuri Police Station in the national capital.

The controversy centres on Friday's demonstration, during which Pappu Yadav, dressed in saffron robes as a temple priest, and other opposition MPs staged a skit involving a donation box and allegations of corruption. He portrayed a temple priest collecting offerings from devotees while holding a photograph of Lord Ram. Fellow opposition leaders played devotees who came forward to place donations in a collection box. In a scripted sequence, the "priest" was shown pocketing the money instead of depositing it in the box, following which a Samajwadi Party MP, playing a devotee, confronted him over the "illegal" act. The performance prompted BJP leaders, including MP Bansuri Swaraj and several MLAs, to file formal police complaints in New Delhi, accusing the opposition leaders of hurting Hindu religious sentiments. The saffron party heads the government at the Centre and is also in power in Uttar Pradesh, which is set to go to polls early next year and where the BJP has been in office since March 2017.