Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) legislator Jayant Patil on Friday, 10 July issued a sharp warning in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during debate on the Shri Ram Mandir Devasthan Trust Management, Ramtek Bill, asserting that inducting politicians into the proposed trust would trigger corruption that would 'overshadow even the Ayodhya temple controversies.' Patil demanded the Bill be sent to a Joint Selection Committee before reintroduction in the next session.

The Bhonsle Family Representation Dispute

Patil questioned why only one member of the historic Bhonsle family — which holds a long-standing traditional connection to the Ramtek temple — was included in the trust. He demanded that at least two Bhonsle family members be inducted in place of political appointees.

'By appointing politicians to the trust, you are politicising the temple. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not include any MLAs or MPs in the Ayodhya Ram Temple Trust. If you follow him, you should take a cue from this,' Patil said on the floor of the House.

Key Objections to the Bill's Provisions

Patil raised several structural concerns about the draft legislation. He demanded removal of provisions granting daily and transport allowances to trust members, questioning the need for members to travel outside when, as he put it, 'God is inside the temple.'

He also flagged the Bill's requirement that members submit an affidavit affirming they are devotees of Lord Ram, calling it constitutionally problematic. Patil argued this could create a conflict of interest for a devotee who also worships Lord Hanuman, potentially violating the principles of secularism enshrined in the Constitution.

On financial transparency, Patil noted the Bill lacks specific provisions for opening donation boxes and counting funds. He called for CCTV cameras to be installed facing donation boxes, cash to be recorded in a register on the same day it is collected, and safeguards against theft — citing incidents reportedly linked to the Ayodhya temple. He also demanded a strict provision barring local MLAs and municipal presidents from utilising trust funds outside the designated temple area.

Law and Order Failures Across Maharashtra

Widening his critique to a broader indictment of the state administration, Patil alleged that Ministers and bureaucrats were routinely absent from House proceedings. He cited a series of law-and-order failures to argue that Maharashtra's security apparatus had 'completely collapsed.'

Patil raised the case of the double murder of Vilas and Prashant Waghmare in March 2013, noting that on 5 May 2026, the prime witness Dadaso Namdev Waghmare was abducted and murdered while travelling to court to testify. He demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into what he described as a political and financial nexus protecting the accused.

He also raised the killing of 13-year-old Vedang Bandgar in Sangli district by a repeat criminal offender, alleging that a ruling party member had previously pressured the Jut Police Inspector not to register a case against the same individual — a failure he said directly cost the child his life.

Police Corruption and the Nagpur Betting Scandal

Patil exposed what he described as a major scandal in Nagpur, where nine police personnel were suspended. According to his account, two police teams acting on a minor ₹500 online gaming complaint travelled to Mumbai and Pune without senior authorisation, stumbled upon a ₹250 crore cricket betting racket, arrested the alleged kingpin — and then reportedly released him after allegedly accepting a large bribe.

On narcotics, Patil said that in 2026 alone, 2,438 cases have been registered, 3,173 individuals arrested, and contraband worth ₹239 crore seized. He described the drug trade as a 'secondary source of income for the police' and cited the large-scale Mephedrone (MD) bust in Neral as evidence of intelligence failure, questioning how multi-crore drug manufacturing units could operate without the administration's knowledge.

Infrastructure Failures and Institutional Corruption

Patil said a section of a newly constructed bridge in Nanded collapsed, narrowly missing two students. When local authorities attributed the collapse to an earthquake, Patil dismissed the claim, noting that no neighbouring structure was damaged.

'Whether it is the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue, the hoarding collapse that killed 13 people, metro construction accidents, or a tree falling on a school bus — nobody is ever held guilty in this state,' he said.

He also detailed an alleged money laundering case involving the Ratanji Premji Public Charitable Trust, which reportedly sold land worth thousands of crores for just ₹2 crore using a dummy company and bogus bank guarantees, and flagged Floor Space Index violations and fake documentation by private developers in Mira Bhayandar and Bhiwandi.

Concluding his address, Patil warned that corruption had become 'completely institutionalised' and that even the media was 'faltering under pressure, forcing common citizens to turn into journalists to bring out the truth.' The Maharashtra government is yet to formally respond to the specific demands raised during the debate.