Bhubaneswar: BJD chief Naveen Patnaik Saturday came down heavily on the Odisha government over the three deaths during this year’s Rath Yatra, accusing the administration of “lackadaisical attitude” over organising an incident-free event and alleging that it fails to learn from past mistakes.
At least three people died — two due to suffocation and one due to cardiac arrest “ during this year’s Rath Yatra, with two fatalities reported on July 16 during the annual sojourn to Gundicha Temple and one during the return car festival on Friday.
Patnaik, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said in a social media post, “Why do such incidents recur repeatedly during Rath Yatra? Why is the government so carefree? It is extremely concerning that the government does not seem to attach any importance to ensuring the safe completion of Mahaprabhu’s nine-day sacred journey.”
The BJD president alleged that the BJP government has “no inclination to learn from past mistakes”.
“One after another, accidents are happening every year during Rath Yatra — people are losing their lives and the state is being discredited — but there is no change whatsoever in the government’s approach,” Patnaik said.
Instead of learning from past mistakes, it seems that the government is working in a casual manner and adopting a stopgap policy, he alleged.
“How many more accidents would the government need to wake up? Despite such accidents happening every year, it is unfortunate that the government learns nothing,” he said.
Three people were killed and many others were injured in a stampede near Gundicha Temple on June 29, 2025. The state government ordered a probe and transferred the district collector and superintendent of police of Puri.
Patnaik urged the government to take special care to ensure that the rituals “ from ‘Sunabesha’ to ‘Niladri Bije’ “ conclude without any disruptions.
“May the devotees who come for Mahaprabhu’s darshan not lose their lives,” he said.
While expressing deep grief over the fresh incident, Patnaik extended his condolences to the family members of the deceased, along with prayers for the swift recovery of the injured.
Meanwhile, BJD vice president Sanja Das Burma, who visited the injured devotees at the district hospital at Puri, said, “This is yet another sad manifestation of the Odisha government’s continuous administrative failure in managing the world’s largest annual spiritual gathering.”
He alleged that a total of 102 devotees were injured due to crowd mismanagement on ‘Bada Danda’ or Grand Road during Bahuda Yatra on Friday. The BJD demanded immediate and appropriate compensation for the families of the deceased.
Health officials, however, said that while one person died during treatment on Friday, over 100 people were brought to the district hospital after falling ill or getting injured during Bahuda Yatra on Friday.
“Barring six people, all the injured devotees were discharged from hospital after administering of first aid,” Puri Chief District Medical Officer Mahesh Mohan Panda said.
