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Businessman, lawyer, prof: First woman member among three new Ram temple trustees with diverse backgrounds
Delhi-based businessman Mahesh Bhagchandka, former Uttar Pradesh additional advocate general Madan Mohan Pandey and Shikohabad academician Prof Nirmala Yadav were inducted into the trust
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The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s new trustees – Delhi-based businessman Mahesh Bhagchandka, former Uttar Pradesh additional advocate general Madan Mohan Pandey and Shikohabad academician Prof Nirmala Yadav — represent distinct backgrounds. They were inducted into the trust on Wednesday to fill posts that fell vacant after the resignation of the then general secretary Champat Rai and member Anil Mishra following the donation-theft row in June, and the demise of trustee Bimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra of Ayodhya last year. Yadav is the first woman inducted into the trust.
Delhi-based businessman Mahesh Bhagchandka is also the new treasurer. He will now handle multi-crore finances of Ram Mandir. Bhagchandka takes over the charge from Govind Dev Giri, who was treasurer of the Trust since its formation. Giri is the new full- time general secretary of the Trust.
He is the founder chairman of M2K Group, a conglomerate with footprints in real estate, infra, tech and entertainment. With over four decades of corporate leadership, he is a former board member of a public sector bank. He is the core trustee of Ashok Singhal Foundation. He is related to former VHP president the late Ashok Singhal, one of tallest figures of Ram Janmabhoomi movement. He is also founder of the Bhagchandka Charitable Trust.
Madan Mohan Pandey, 74-year-old Ayodhya-based advocate, is a former additional advocate general of UP. He represented Shri Ram Lalla Virajman and late Mahant Ramchandra Paramhans Das in the title dispute from the early 1990s till final Supreme Court verdict in 2019.
A long-time Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) karyakarta or worker, her nomination has sparked celebrations in Firozabad and her maternal home at Awagarh, Etah.
With a PhD in Hindi, she was appointed principal of BDM Degree College, Shikohabad, at 34 in 1999. Later, she became principal of the prestigious MG Balika PG College, Firozabad. Currently, she is vice-president of Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh.
Following news of her selection, people began arriving at her residence to congratulate her. Her daughter-in-law told reporters that a grand welcome would be accorded to her in Firozabad on Thursday.
