Puri:The Congress today took out a massive protest rally here at Grand Road, demanding reopening of four gates of the Lord Jagannath Temple for smooth darshan of the devotees.
Hundreds of party activists, holding placards, shouted slogans against the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and the State government, took out the protest rally from Saradha Bali to the office of the SJTA on the Grand Road.
The protest rally was led by Pradesh Congress Committee (PC) President Sarat Patnaik and participated by PCC Campaign Committee Chairman Bijay Patnaik, former OPCC Presidents Jaydev Jena and Prasad Harichandan, Jeypore MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati, Mohana MLA Dasarathi Gamango and several other senior Congress leaders.
The party leaders submitted a memorandum to SJTA Chief Administrator Ranjan Kumar Das addressed to the Odisha Governor.
Shri Patnaik said all four gates of the Puri temple should be reopened for devotees before the beginning of the holy Odia month of Kartik (begins from October 29).
“Puri is one of the four Dhams of India and lakhs of devotees from across the globe come here for a darshan of Lord Jagannath. However, they face a lot of problems while visiting the temple. A devotee died recently while standing in a queue to visit the temple, which brought bad name to the state,” he alleged.
Alleging that the BJD Government failed to do anything for the development of the temple despite remaining in power for almost 24 years, the Congress leaders said now the government has closed three out of four gates of the shrine for the general public for which devotees are facing immense problems, Shri Patnaik said.
The party also demanded the government to reopen the Ratna Bhandar of the temple for repairs and inventory of ornaments and valuables stored at the temple treasury.
The Congress leaders also urged the State Government to hand over land acquired for the Vedanta university project back to farmers as the Supreme Court has quashed the land acquisition.
Shri Bahinipati said the party’s first demand is to open four gates of the Jagannath temple for the Havishyalis and to open the Ratna Bhandar for inventory of valuable ornaments stored there.
The party also demanded the handing over of the land measuring 6000 acres occupied by Vedanta company following the order of Supreme Court of India and the proper rehabilitation of mutts, temples and houses demolished by the government for the beautification of the heritage city.
The party warned to intensify stirs across the State if the Government fails to address the issues before the beginning of the holy month of Kartik.
SJTA Chief Administrator Ranjan Kumar Das said the memorandum will be forwarded to the governor. Das also assured to take appropriate action after going through the demands
Meanwhile, BJP leader Samir Mohanty criticised the government for not forming any committee till now for the opening of Ratna Bhandar and the conduct of inventorisation of jewellery and other valuables stored in the Bhandar.
He said the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee has submitted a resolution to the high court as well as the state government on the issue on August 4 but nothing has been done yet. Mohanty said the party would move to Puri king in this regard soon.
BJD leader Amar Satpathy has advised the opposition to not politicise the issue. He stated that the government will follow the court directions in this regard and the Law department is examining the court order.