Odisha government has turned Puri into battlefield: BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra
BHUBANESWAR: Breaking his silence over the demolition of structures including mutts and edifices of historical importance around Sri Jagannath Temple in Puri, senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra on Wednesday criticised the State Government for the mindless destruction without spelling out its plan of action.
Launching a broadside at the ruling dispensation, Bijay said, “In the last seven days, the State Government has turned Puri into Kurukshetra (like a battlefield) by deploying 50 platoons of police force and 22 bulldozers for demolition of century-old mutts.”
The pilgrim town looks like a battlefield and the razing of structures gives the impression of an attack that has been launched on terrorist camps, he said.
The senior BJP leader dubbed the action as illegal and said the BJD Government doesn’t have any constitutional or moral rights to demolish the heritage structures.
Questioning the motive of the State Government, the former Minister said, Some people say the move is based on the report of Justice BP Das Commission. If it is true then it is more serious. The judicial commission has given an interim report. The Government winded up the Commission of Inquiry before the panel submitted its final report on temple reforms,” Bijay said.
He asked the Government to make the recommendations of the Das Commission public if it has received the final report from the panel. If the current demolition undertaken by the Government is based on the recommendation of the interim report, then it is illegal, he said.
The Government spent close to Rs 500 crore for development in Puri during ‘Nabakalebar’ in 2015. Details of the expenditure were not made public. Neither the expenditure was audited nor it was reflected in the annual report of the temple, the BJP leader said. “Now the Government is asking people to sacrifice their land and livelihood for Lord Jagannath so that it will loot everything,” he remarked.
On the other hand, BJD MP Amar Patnaik rubbished Bijay’s claims and said the eviction drive near Puri Srimandir is a well-planned initiative of Odisha Government.
“The current plan is to turn Puri into cultural capital and investments will be made accordingly for beautification. It is an integrated approach for the development of Puri which is based on the recommendation of the Supreme Court,” he said.