BHUBANESWAR: Opposition BJD and Congress came down heavily on the state government in the Assembly on Friday alleging mismanagement in conduct of Rath Yatra on July 7 during which Lord Balabhadra reportedly fell down during Adapa Mandap Pahandi.
Initiating the debate on an adjournment motion in the Assembly, leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Ramchandra Kadam alleged that the entire world witnessed Lord Balabhadra falling down on the ‘charamala’ during pahandi (ceremonial procession), but the state government is trying to cover up the incident.
“Never in the history of Rath Yatra had such an incident taken place, but some ministers termed it as the divine play of God,” he claimed.
Kadam’s party colleague Ashok Das said as per the statement given by the Badagrahi of Lord Balabhadra, the incident took place as several rituals were skipped to complete the Rath Yatra in time.
“The state government should clarify, who should be made responsible for such serious lapse,” said Das.
Similarly, BJD member Byomakesh Ray alleged that the then chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration and the law minister were absent when the incident related to Lord Balabhadra took place. “Besides, a devotee died due to stampede while relatives of servitors and several non-servitors had climbed onto the chariots,” he claimed.
Initiating a calling attention motion, BJP members Tankadhar Tripathy, Ashrit Patnaik, Om Prakash and Sanatan Bijuli said the BJD has no right to talk about mismanagement during Rath Yatra. Alleging that BJD had done politics for 24 years using Lord Jagannath, Tripathy questioned, “What action was taken against a minister caught relaxing during the mismanagement in Bramha Parivartan in 2015?”
The BJP members also alleged that BJD leaders took out Arpan Raths with idols of Lord Jagannath and collected money. “The BJD is in the Opposition now because the party leaders misused the name of Lord Jagannath,” they said.
Making a statement in response, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan defended the government and said this year’s Rath Yatra was unique as it included three major rituals - Nabajouban Darshan, Netra Utsav and the Rath Yatra - on the same day. He asserted that there was no mismanagement during Rath Yatra which was completed smoothly with the cooperation of all servitors and the blessings of Lord Jagannath.
The minister further said there was no stampede during Rath Yatra and a person died due to heart attack. “The mangala arati of Lord Jagannath used to be delayed on the day when an influential person running the BJD government visited the temple to have darshan,” he alleged.
Unhappy with the minister’s response, the BJD and Congress members staged a walkout from the House.
