Illegal selling of plots: Ayodhya authority names BJP MLA, mayor

The Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) is carrying out an investigation against 40 people alleged to have illegally sold plots in the district. The list includes the names of the current BJP MLA of the district, the mayor of the district (also from BJP) as well as another former BJP MLA.

The ADA has prepared a list of 40 such colonisers along with locations of their 'illegal plotting', based on complaints received from residents in the city. 'Illegal plotting' refers to buying bulk land and selling small parts of it without permission from the competent authority.

The inclusion of BJP MLA from Ayodhya, who was also the MLA in the previous government, Ved Prakash Gupta, city mayor from BJP, Rishikesh Upadhyay, and a former BJP MLA from Milkipur constituency Gorakhnath Baba's names have kicked up a row.


Sultan Ansari, who had sold land to the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra in a deal that had come to light last year for alleged fraud, is also part of the list.

A senior ADA official told ET that the list has been prepared based on "primary information". The authority will inspect the allegations, visit sites, and check whether the sale has been done following due legal process. "We will investigate the allegations and ask for the approved maps. If they are not forthcoming, we will follow the due process including demolition," said the official on conditions of anonymity.

Ever since the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Ram temple in the district, causing land in the district to be elevated to prime real estate, many such instances of alleged wrongdoing and corruption in land sales have come to light.

A few days ago, the BJP's own MP from Ayodhya, Lallu Singh, had written a letter to CM Yogi Adityanath complaining of "rampant corruption" being carried out together with the land mafia and officials in the sale of nazul land (governmental land used for non-agricultural purposes) and land which are part of the submerged areas in the district, and had urged the CM to probe the dealings.