PRAYAGRAJ/SULTANPUR, July 8 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday accused the opposition of running a campaign to defame Ayodhya and the Ram Janmabhoomi, saying they were not satisfied despite the Ram temple Trust taking action based on the preliminary report from the SIT in the alleged donation theft case. A day after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust set a big overhaul in motion, Adityanath stood by it, saying that the Trust acted swiftly and was the one that gifted the nation the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Addressing gatherings in Pratapgarh and Sultanpur, the CM said: "The trust had sought an SIT for the alleged theft. I had said recently that it would separate the wheat from the chaff. On the basis of SIT's preliminary report, the trust got an FIR registered and took action against those against whom there was evidence.the trust is working and managing the affairs of the temple. There is no external interference in its functioning." "The preliminary report of the SIT has led to action by the Trust. But for the past month, the SP, Congress and other so-called secular parties have been running a campaign to defame Ayodhya. They are targeting Ayodhya, targeting the Ram Janmabhoomi and attacking the faith of millions. This is a malicious attempt to create a negative atmosphere in the country," he alleged. The Trust on Monday accepted the resignations of Champat Rai as general secretary and Anil Mishra as trustee, removed administrator Gopal Rao and announced a three-member panel to appoint a new chief executive officer as it sought to restore its image following swirling allegations of theft in donations. Training guns on the Congress and SP, Adityanath said: "Now with elections approaching, these people are raising their heads.they are conspiring. In the last few days, using an 'incident', they have been insulting Hindus and attacking the Sanatan faith. And these are the same people who said that Lord Ram and Lord Krishna never existed. Congress and SP supported the Babri structure and shed crocodile tears over it, and now the same parties have changed colours faster than a chameleon. I want to ask, since when have you developed faith in Ayodhya? Congress in the Supreme Court had said that Ram never existed, SP opened fire on Ram Bhakts, and they are talking about faith now." He said: "Congress and SP, tell me about the thousands of hectares of land in UP and the whole country that were sold in the name of Waqf. All that land could have been leased to the poor or used to help traders set up businesses. When all that land was encroached on and sold, you did not prevent it; you never objected." Continuing the attack, Adityanath added: "Now, you see that Hindus' faith has been hurt. Did you not see their faith hurt when the money that should have gone into the renovation and restoration of temples went into making boundary walls of graveyards?.You did not see Hindus' faith hurt when illegal slaughterhouse operations were exposed and cows were smuggled and slaughtered? You did not their faith hurt when you opened fire on Ram Bhakts and lathi-charged them? Countering Adityanath's allegations, SP president Akhilesh Yadav posted on his X account: "The exposure of the theft involving religious offerings and donations has brought an end to the BJP's politics of both 'religion' and 'money'. The BJP is now left with no ground to stand on." The controversy first surfaced on June 7 when SP leader Tej Narayan 'Pawan' Pandey alleged that donations worth Rs.5 crore to Rs.7.5 crore were siphoned off from temple offerings. On June 13, the state government set up a SIT. According to investigators, the probe prima facie revealed a systematic diversion of cash during the collection and counting process. The SIT alleged that a portion of the offerings was siphoned off before being deposited into the temple's designated bank account, leading to the arrest of eight employees associated with handling and counting donations on June 26. Last month, an FIR was registered against eight named accused and other unidentified people under BNS sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5), relating to offences such as criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The eight men arrested so far include Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav 'Tinnu', Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra and Karunesh Pandey. Anukalp Mishra and Luvkush Mishra are related to each other, and also to Trust member Anil Mishra. Ram Shankar Yadav, an aide of Rai, and Manish Yadav are related. Last week, the police seized Rs 79,85,493 from the eight arrested men, recovering money from bathrooms, haystacks and cow dung cakes....