Bhubaneswar: The opposition BJP and Congress on Friday came down heavily on the decision of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) not to make the report of the Brahma Parivartan fiasco public.
“What can I say about the report unless I go through it? An inquiry of the report is made for the public appraisal. If there is any irregularity inside the temple, how it can be secret?” Leader of the Opposition Narasingha Mishra said.
The BJP also took a jibe at the decision of the SJTA.
“Apprehending that the report would expose the complicity of the state government, SJTA had taken the unconstitutional and undemocratic decision not to make the report public on the instruction of the higher-ups. Even it had the audacity not to hand over the report to anyone under the Right to Information (RTI) Act which is a part of the basic fundamental rights,” state BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said at a press briefing here.
Commenting on the statement of Acharya, BJD spokesperson and former Law minister Arun Sahu said the BJP is used to say whatever comes to its mind.
“The decision taken by the Temple Managing Committee headed by the Gajapati Maharaja about the affairs of the temple is entirely under its jurisdiction. The BJP has gone too far on this matter and is unnecessarily dragging the state government into the controversy,” he pointed out.