Bhubaneswar: The missing keys of Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri has snowballed into a major political issue amid the ongoing polls in Odisha with the BJP leveraging it to attack the ruling BJD government.
While its top party leaders – from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma – have been harping on “safety” of Ratna Bhandar, former state BJP president Samir Mohanty on Tuesday asked if V K Pandian can asseverate that nothing has been stolen from the treasury using the duplicate key.
This came hours after the BJD leader invited the PM to witness the opening of Ratna Bhandar after four decades while reacting to the latter’s ‘missing keys’ remarks at election rallies in Odisha in a dismissive manner.
Addressing a presser, Mohanty said that the BJP has been raising this issue since it feels that the ornaments of the Lords are not safe in the treasury under the BJD regime. “Who made those duplicate keys? The way the duplicate keys were found in an envelop on the day we staged a protest, demanding that a FIR be registered against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in April 2018, indicated at the possibility that the person who lost the keys, also stole valuables from Ratna Bhandar. Therefore, Pandian should affirm that the jewellery of the Lords are safe,” he said.
The BJP leader also accused of the BJD government of dilli-dallying the issue even after the court orders.
In 2023, Mohanty had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Odisha High Court, seeking the opening of Ratna Bhandar for the repair and inventory of the valuables. He also sought an inquiry by the (Central Bureau of Investigation) CBI into the duplicate key.
In February, the HC asked the Odisha government to appoint a retired judge either of the High Court or of the Supreme Court as the chairman of the committee for Ratna Bhandar to take a call on the reopening, inventorisation and counting of the jewellery of the treasure trove.
Speaking to PTI, Pandian said that the Jagannath temple administration has fixed a date for opening of the treasury within the shrine premises during Rath Yatra and the government’s role was limited to appointing a chairman of the committee, which has been done.
Also Read: V K Pandian Invites Narendra Modi To Witness Opening Of Ratna Bhandar During Rath Yatra
For 6 years now, the keys to the inner chamber of the temple’s Ratna Bhandar are officially missing. The issue has resurfaced as a major point of contention with the BJP accusing the ruling BJD government of suppressing Justice Raghubir Dash Commission report on missing keys of Ratna Bhandar.
On April 4, 2018, officials of the temple reported that the keys of Ratna Bhandar, situated near the sanctum sanctorum of the 12th-century shrine, as they proceeded to carry out an inspection of its structural condition in accordance with a HC order, leading to widespread outrage. Subsequently, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a judicial inquiry into the matter and the commission submitted a 324-page report in November 2018, but its findings remain undisclosed. Around Rs 22.27 lakh was reportedly spent on the Commission.
Curiously, days after the judicial inquiry was ordered, the then Puri district Collector, the official custodian of the keys, mysteriously found an envelope with “duplicate keys of inner Ratna Bhandar” written on it in the record room of the Collectorate, adding fuel to the lingering controversy over the treasure trove.
