Odisha Cong Demands Govt Account Of Money & Rice Collected During Arpan Rath Campaign

Bhubaneswar: The Congress party on Friday demanded an account of the money collected during by Arpan Rath campaign for Srimandir Parikrama project in Puri and apology from the chief minister for showing disrespect to Lord Jagannath by taking out processions of his idol on vehicles.

Speaking to media persons in Bhubaneswar, senior Congress leader Panchanan Kanungo said the way Lord Jagannath was carried during the campaign for the inauguration of the corridor project has hurt the sentiments of Odias.

“The idols made of thermocol and images of Lord Jagannath on banners and posters were carried in pick-up vans, trolleys and auto-rickshaws which were used as the Arpan Rath. It is gross disrespect to Lord Jagannath who holds religious significance for millions of Odias around the world,” he said.

Kanungo also claimed that the workers of ruling BJD accompanying the Arpan Rath collected thousands of quintals of rice, betelnuts, coconuts and lakhs of rupees in cash from the people to be used during inauguration of the heritage corridor in Puri. But neither those materials reached Puri nor the government has any account of the money.

“The government must explain what happened to the materials and money collected from the devotees by taking advantage of their religious sentiments,” he added.

State spokesman of the party Sudarshan Das said the government spent huge amount of money for campaign of the inauguration of the project. It had sanctioned Rs 2 lakh to each panchayat and Rs 5 lakh to block, totalling Rs 151.58 crore. Similarly, Rs 19.34 crore was given to 967 wards of 48 municipalities and Rs 1 lakh to each ward of NAC and Rs 5 lakh to municipal corporation for the purpose.

Besides, the government spent Rs 250 crore towards promotion of the corridor project inauguration through advertisements in print and electronic media. The government must account for the money spent in this regard, demanded Das.