Ratna Bhandar Issue Should Not Be Politicised: BJD

Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Monday urged the Opposition not to politicize the issue relating to the missing Ratna Bhandar keys of the Jagannath temple in Puri.

“This is purely a non-political issue. The Opposition should refrain from making the Ratna Bhandar key a political issue,” senior BJD leader and MP Pinaki Mishra told reporters on Monday.

He said the last time the Ratna Bhandara was opened in 1985. After 15 years, the BJD came to power. Considering this, dragging the chief minister into this case is thoroughly unjustified. Even the Shankaracharya of Gobardhan Peeth Swami Nischalananda Saraswati today said that the issue should not be politicized.

“I request all the political leaders with folded hands that they should not politicize this issue which is highly sensitive. This issue should be decided on bi-partisan basis,” Mishra said.

He further said the judicial commission of inquiry, instituted by the state government to probe into the matter, will submit its report within three months. On the basis of the report, the state government will act accordingly.

Briefing media persons earlier in the day, BJP spokesperson Pitambara Acharya said according to Jagannath Temple Act, the ornaments of the Lords should be kept in the Ratna Bhandar. But two days ago, the state government had collected the Lords’ ornaments donated by the devotees from the Hundi and deposited them in the locker of the State Bank of India is in gross violation of the rules.

“The chief minister should give a clarification that under which rules, the ornaments have been kept in the bank locker. He should also clarify that which rules have empowered the temple administration to keep the ornaments outside the Ratna Bhandar,” Acharya demanded.

He also claimed that by keeping the ornaments in the SBI locker the state government has admitted that the ornaments are not safe in the Ratna Bhandar.

Besides, Acharya said that the chief minister, who is yet to give any statement on the missing Ratna Bhandar keys, should give a specific statement on whether the keys are lost or they have been deliberately lost.