BHUBANESWAR: The BJD and Congress on Friday came down heavily on the state government for mismanagement during the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath at Puri.
Addressing a media-conference here, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallick, former minister Sanjay Dasburma, Rajya Sabha MP Subhasish Khuntia and president of Puri district BJD Umakanta Samantaray said the Pahandi of Lord Jagannath without the tahia (traditional flower tiara) has hurt the sentiments of millions of devotees. Besides, Lord Jagannath remained stranded on the temple steps for over 40 minutes due to the lapses.
Describing the statement of the chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Arabinda Padhee that the tiara had become wet in the rain and had to be taken off as unfortunate, the BJD leaders questioned how the tiaras of Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra remained intact in that case.
The BJD leaders held the temple administration as well as the Sevayat Nijog responsible for the lapses. Criticising the state government for the death of a devotee due to a crowd surge, the BJD leaders said that the crowd management by authorities had completely collapsed.
Alleging that government’s preference for VIP culture over devotee safety, led to the crowd surge which led to the death of a devotee, the BJD alleged because of a large number of VIP guests including Union minister, and BJP leaders from other states, police force and administration were entirely diverted to secure VIPs rather than guiding the flow of common devotees.
President of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee Bhakta Charan Das said conduct of Lord Jagannath’s Pahandi without the traditional tiara is a direct assault on the cultural core of Odisha. “This is completely unprecedented, unacceptable and deeply painful for all,” he stated.