Claim
When the government announced the Ram Mandir Trust members on February 5, 2020, Champat Rai's name was not on the list, but at the trust's first meeting 14 days later on February 19 he was made General Secretary.
“जब 5 फरवरी 2020 को सरकार ने राम मंदिर ट्रस्ट के मेंबर्स का ऐलान किया था। उसमें चंपत राय का नाम नहीं था। लेकिन 14 दिन के बाद 19 फरवरी को ट्रस्ट की पहली मीटिंग हुई। तो चंपत राय प्रकट हो गए। ट्रस्ट की पहली मीटिंग में चंपत राय को जनरल सेक्रेटरी बना दिया गया।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
Both factual assertions check out: when the government announced the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust on 5 February 2020, the named members did not include Champat Rai (the Centre named nine trustees, leaving other co-opted/nominated seats open). At the trust's first meeting on 19 February 2020 — 14 days later — Champat Rai was elected/made General Secretary. The dates, the omission from the original list, and the appointment are all corroborated by primary and reference sources.
Evidence
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri_Ram_Janmbhoomi_Teerth_Kshetra States the trust was announced by PM Modi in Lok Sabha on 5 Feb 2020 with the Centre nominating members; Champat Rai was not among those named on that date, and at the trust's first meeting on 19 Feb 2020 Nritya Gopal Das was elected Chairman and Champat Rai was elected General Secretary. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2020/02/06/ayodhya-ram-temple-trust-members-parasaran.html Lists the trustees announced on 5-6 Feb 2020 (Parasaran, Vasudevanand Saraswati, Vishwa Prasannatheerth, Paramanand, Govinddev Giri, Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, Anil Mishra, Kameshwar Chaupal, Mahant Dinendra Das) — Champat Rai is not on this initial list. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champat_Rai Confirms Champat Rai was named the foundational General Secretary of the trust at its first meeting on 19 February 2020. ✓ reachable · archived