Bhubaneswar: Odisha Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan Wednesday urged the opposition parties not to politicise the affairs related to Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra.
His appeal came after the opposition BJD and Congress demanded his resignation over the “irregularities and negligence” during the festival, which led to the death of three people in a stampede near the Gundicha Temple in Puri Sunday.
The Jagannath Temple in Puri functions under the law department of the Odisha government.
“Those who have proven themselves ineffective are talking a lot. The people of Odisha know how the Opposition managed the Rath Yatra. Everyone has seen what happened during their tenure,” Harichandan wrote in Odia in an X post.
The BJP minister was alluding to incidents leading to deaths in stampedes during festivals when the BJD was in power.
Harichandran said, “A humble request not to create any political atmosphere around Mahaprabhu’s Rath Yatra.”
Earlier in the day, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty demanded that Harichandan resign immediately for irregularities during Rath Yatra, claiming that those brought shame to Odisha.
“The large-scale irregularities during Rath Yatra, including delay in pulling of Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosh chariot, stampede and other failures have brought a bad name for the state,” Mohanty told a press conference.
He also alleged that Harichandan, who is in charge of the Rath Yatra, is making various comments to mislead the people of the state.
“He should take moral responsibility for the failure in organising the Rath Yatra properly and resign from his post, or Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi should dismiss him,” Mohanty said.
The Congress also made a similar demand and burnt effigies of the minister.
The sibling deities – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra – left the main shrine last week and are now in Gundicha Temple, considered their aunt’s place. The stampede took place early Sunday outside the Gundicha Temple.
PTI