Bhubaneswar: The political slugfest between the ruling BJP and Opposition BJD over the safety of Puri Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar intensified Thursday, with Odisha Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan alleging that the previous government had forged the treasury’s keys after misplacing the original one.
Harichandan’s remarks came in response to a series of social media posts by senior BJD leader Pranab Prakash Das, who accused the BJP of politicising the temple and its Ratna Bhandar to win the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the state assembly elections.
Das alleged that BJP leaders had misled people by claiming that the ornaments of Lord Jagannath were unsafe in the Ratna Bhandar when the BJD ruled the state.
“The Ratna Bhandar is Odisha’s ‘asmita’ (pride). BJP leaders who did politics in the name of ‘Mahaprabhu’ to win elections now stand exposed. The people of Odisha will hold them accountable,” he said, days after the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) stated that no disparity had so far been found between the current inventory and the 1978 records.
Reacting to Das’s allegations, Harichandan said the BJP had refrained from politicising the issue out of respect for Lord Jagannath.
“If we ask questions on Ratna Bhandar, the BJD members will remain speechless. Where is the original key of the treasury? The keys were indeed missing. Then the keys were forged by the BJD government, but that did not match the locks, forcing authorities to break in in the presence of a magistrate during the inventory exercise,” said the minister, whose department oversees the functioning of the 12th-century temple in Puri.
He also questioned why the Ratna Bhandar was not opened during the BJD’s 24-year rule if the original key had not gone missing.
He said the BJP government had initiated the inventory of the Ratna Bhandar after 48 years and aimed to complete the process before ‘Snan Purnima’ June 29.
Harichandan said the judicial commission report on the missing keys would soon be placed before the state assembly.
Earlier, Das alleged, “From the BJP state leadership to the PM and leaders from other states, all were shouting in public forums that the jewels of Ratna Bhandar were stolen. Some leaders had even alleged that the ornaments had been sent to another state.”
“But the recent inventory had silenced such claims after SJTA Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee clarified that all ornaments were safe,” he added.
Das said the Ratna Bhandar valuables were symbols of the faith of crores of Odias, and those who spread lies should apologise to devotees of Lord Jagannath.`