The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Monday said the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust itself has been pushing for a fair probe into the alleged embezzlement of donations at the temple, claiming that the Trust carried out an internal inquiry and sought the formation of an SIT.The RSS affiliate also defended senior Trust functionaries Champat Rai and Anil Mishra, saying they voluntarily resigned to ensure a fair probe into the case, and asserted that the first FIR in the matter was lodged by the Trust itself after the SIT submitted its preliminary findings.The VHP also hit out at opposition leaders, including AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that unlike Rai and Mishra, they did not resign from public office despite facing corruption allegations.Rai, the Trust’s general secretary, and member Anil Mishra resigned from their posts on June 27, two days after an FIR was registered in the case.Following the FIR, eight accused — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav — were arrested.In a video post on X, VHP international president Alok Kumar said, “The FIR was filed on the formal complaint of Trust leading to the immediate arrest of eight individuals involved in the handling and counting of temple offerings.”He said Rai and Mishra have voluntarily stepped aside to facilitate an impartial investigation.”Champat Rai ji and Anil Mishra ji voluntarily stepped aside and tendered their resignations to facilitate a completely fair and independent investigation,” Kumar said.Welcoming the inquiry, Kumar said the VHP and the Trust also wanted the truth to emerge.”The Trust is making all efforts to ensure that a proper and fair probe into the allegations is conducted at the earliest,” he said.Explaining the sequence of events, Kumar said, “After the case came to light, the Trust members conducted an internal probe, identified some culprits, and recovered Rs 80 lakh. Immediately after this, the Trust members approached the chief minister and urged him to constitute an SIT.”He said when the SIT began its investigation, Rai cooperated fully.”When the SIT came to Ayodhya, Champat Rai ji came forward and told the investigating agency that the truth should come out and that he was ready to be interrogated first.”Kumar said the Trust lodged the FIR only after receiving the SIT’s preliminary report.”After the preliminary report of the SIT was submitted and the Trust received a copy, the first step taken by the Trust was to lodge an FIR,” he said.”The names of eight people who were investigated by the SIT were included in the FIR, while ‘others’ were mentioned in the ninth column. The Trust also demanded that a comprehensive investigation be conducted,” he added.”The Trust itself demanded that the matter be investigated from every angle and that all allegations be thoroughly examined,” he further said.Referring to the resignations of Rai and Mishra, Kumar said, “When the issue was raised that if Champat Rai ji continued in his post, he might tamper with evidence or influence witnesses and obstruct the investigation, both Champat Rai ji and Anil Mishra ji immediately tendered their resignations.”Drawing a contrast with opposition leaders, Kumar said, “When Kejriwal ji was the chief minister and allegations of corruption were levelled against him, he was arrested and his bail application was rejected. Kejriwal ji said ‘he would run the government from jail as the CM’, but he did not tender his resignation.”Kumar also referred to former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Rajiv Gandhi, alleging that they too did not resign despite controversies surrounding their governments.Kumar further alleged that Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who are facing charges in the National Herald case, have also not resigned.”This is the difference between the conduct of Champat Rai ji and that of the Congress and AAP leaders,” he said.