Bhubaneswar: The BJP and BJD have locked horns over alleged desecration of Jagannath Temple in Pilgrim Town of Puri following the entry of social media influencer and Curly Tales founder Kamiya Jani, whom the saffron party accused of promoting beef consumption, into the 12th-century shrine.
Addressing a presser, Odisha BJP general secretary Jatin Mohanty questioned how a promoter of beef consumption was granted access to the revered shrine in Puri. “Kamiya Jani had eaten beef in the past and she herself has admitted this. Former IAS officer VK Pandian, who recently joined the ruling BJD, has also hurt the religious sentiments of crores of Hindus across the globe by facilitating her visit to Jagannath Temple in Puri. Pandian also made arrangement for the social media influencer to partake Mahaprasad inside the temple,” he alleged.
Besides raising objection to her entry into the shrine, the BJP also deemed the broadcasting of the video from the temple premises as “unacceptable” since Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has banned use of video camera inside the shrine. “The police should immediately arrest the social media influencer for flouting the temple rules. We have also urged that a case should be registered against them under Section 295 of IPC for hurting the religious sentiments of a community. If the state government does not take the necessary steps in this regard at the earliest then we will approach the court,” Mohanty added.
The BJD countered the allegations by accusing BJP of being intolerant to the development of the temple. It also clarified that Jani had taken ‘Mahaprasad’ at Radha Ballav ‘Mutt’ and not inside the temple premises. “5T chairman VK Pandian and social media influencer Kamiya Jani did not partake Mahaprasad on the temple premises. They partook Mahaprasad at Radha Ballav Mutt. There is no truth in the allegations levelled by the BJP,” said BJD spokesperson Ipsita Sahoo.
As the row escalated, the SJTA also posted on X, “The allegation made by a certain political party about YouTube influencer taking a camera to the temple premises is completely baseless. There is no truth in this. If anyone has any evidence, if they present it, it will be investigated and necessary action will be taken.”
Reacting to this tweet, Odisha BJP vice president Lekha Samantsinghar questioned as to why the SJTA issued no clarification over the beef dispute, about them having ‘Mahaprasad’ inside the temple and the ongoings at 4 am.
Meanwhile, Jani defended her Jagannath Temple visit in an Instagram story. “As an Indian, my mission is to take Indian culture and heritage to the world. I have been visiting all the Jyotirlingas and char dhams of India and what a privilege it’s been. Woke up to this strange article in the newspaper questioning my visit to Jagannath temple. Not that anyone has reached out to me but just here to clarify that I don’t and have never eaten Beef. Jai Jagannath.”
