BHUBANESWAR: Proceedings in the assembly was stalled today as the Opposition created noisy scenes over the issue of disruption of rituals of deities in the Jagannath Temple in Puri forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house several times during the pre and post lunch sessions.
The all-party meeting convened by Speaker Pradip Amat to resolve the stalemate failed to yield any result as the Opposition Congress and BJP members boycotted it in protest. Congress and BJP members were also absent from the house during discussion on the demand of grants for the energy department for 2018-19.
Congress and BJP members demanded a discussion over the issue as soon as the question hour started. However, opposition members rushed to the well of the house shouting slogans when the Speaker
ignored their demand. Unable to run the house, the Speaker adjourned the it till 11.30 am. The issue cropped up again when the house reassembled forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house till 12.50 pm and again till 3pm.
Leader of the opposition Narasingh Mishra told mediapersons outside the house that the manner in which the rituals of the deities were delayed and they and the devotees were deprived of Mahaprasad is
unfortunate. Mishra demanded that those who were in charge of performing and monitoring the rituals should be taken to task for dereliction duty.
Referring to the order of the Odisha high court in this regard, Mishra said keeping the grievances of the servitors in view Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) could have either prayed for reconsideration of the order or consulted the servitors' bodies as to how to perform the rituals in line with the order of the High Court. Pradip Purohit (BJP) said the disruption in rituals of the Lords in Shri Jagannath temple has deeply hurt the sentiments of the devotees not only in Odisha but also across the world.
“Though the servitors of Suara-Mahasuara Nijog are on a dharna in front of the Simhadwara of the temple and near Emar Mutt since late evening on Monday in protest against the disruption of rituals and demanding compensation against the huge loss of Mahaprasad to the tune of about ` 50 lakh which remained unsold as it could not be offered to the Lords, neither the SJTA nor the state government has shown any urgency over such a sensitive matter,” he said. Government chief whip Amar Prasad Satpathy, however, said that the state government is fully aware of the situation and will do the needful without any wastage of time.