Lucknow, July 7 -- Chandra Shekhar Azad, the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) president and Member of Parliament from Nagina, on Monday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry by the CBI into the alleged donation theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He also claimed his party will play a crucial role in deciding the next chief minister after the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. He made the demand for the CBI probe on a day on which the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust held a crucial meeting in Ayodhya. "This is not theft, it is loot and dacoity. They take votes in Ram's name, take money in Ram's name, and hurt people's faith in Ram's name," he said. The ASP chief was in the state capital on Monday for former minister Dr Masood Ahmad's joining the ASP. "As a lawyer, I demand a CBI probe under the Supreme Court's supervision so that things become clear. People's faith should not be played with," he said, dismissing SIT probes as tools to cover up irregularities. He criticised self-styled godmen for fearing to speak the truth. Announcing that the party would soon release a list of candidates and challenging analysts to assess their strength, he said, "This time, the government of Uttar Pradesh will be decided by the Azad Samaj Party, mark my words. We will decide who will sit on the CM's chair in UP in 2027." He urged Dalits, backward classes, Muslims, farmers, labourers, youth, and women to forge a genuine social alliance based on ideology, asserting that only such unity could decisively defeat the BJP in the state. He cited the party's performance in the Nagina Lok Sabha constituency as proof that the ASP could push back big alliances when Bahujan unity was forged. He rejected short-term electoral alliances for the UP assembly polls, citing the failure of the 10-party alliance in 2022 that only secured around 125 seats....