Ram Temple Trust to get 1st CEO on Wednesday

Ayodhya: The first CEO of the Ram temple will be selected from a likely shortlist of three on Wednesday at a meeting of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust that may also announce two members and general secretary of the panel, sources said.

The meeting, which comes in the wake of the controversy over the alleged theft of offerings and the resignation of former general secretary of the temple trust Champat Rai, will be held at the place of the president of the Ram Mandir Trust, Nritya Gopal Das, in Maniramdas Chhawani. The selection panel may submit three shortlisted names to the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the first CEO of the trust, they said.

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Selection committee officials - retired justice Pramod Kohli, retired lieutenant general Vishnukant Chaturvedi and expert member Suresh Hawde - have reached Ayodhya.

The temple trust will also make an official announcement on the post of secretary of the trust in a meeting likely to begin at 2 pm on Wednesday. Jagdish Aafle will be the first secretary of the temple trust. Aafle, who is from Maharashtra, is associated with RSS and is the Ram temple construction project manager.

VHP international general secretary Bajrang Lal Bangda may also be included in the trust, sources said.

Treasurer of the temple trust, Govind Dev Giri, upon being asked whether the new CEO will be named on Wednesday, said, "That is up to the trust to decide. I expect it to happen, but the board of trustees will decide whether to do it or not."

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