Ratna Bhandara Key Row: BJP Seeks CM’s Take

Bhubaneswar/Puri: The State BJP on Sunday sought a clarification from chief minister Naveen Patnaik on the missing of the Ratna Bhandara key of the Jagannath temple in Puri.

“Let the chief minister give a clarification on how and when the key of the temple’s inner treasury went missing and who is responsible for it,” state BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya told media persons at the party’s headquarters office here in the afternoon.

Stating that the BJD government is used to neglect Lord Jagannath, Acharya said while the missing of the Ratna Bhandara key has come to the notice since last two months, the state government has not taken any step till date.

“It seems that the BJD leaders are busy in passing the buck to their colleague on this sensitive issue. Though the BJD MLA Sanjay Dasburma had told the media that the Law department will give a statement on this issue, there is no response from the minister of the concerned department Pratap Jena till now,” the BJP leader pointed out.

Acharya warned that his party would come to the street if the chief minister fails to give a clarification on this issue.

Earlier in the day, activists of Jagannath Sena and the Sachetana Nagarik Manch staged a demonstration in front of the Simhadwara of the Jagannath temple in Puri.

“The key of the Ratna Bhandara is not an ordinary key. The key with a length of 3 feet is made of eight metals (astadhatu) with gold coating. How come this key would be lost? What was the temple administration doing? How it has no knowledge about the key which has been missing for 40 years since 1978? If the key is lost, how Ratna Bhandara would remain safe? Now, the question is why the temple administration has remained silent and not lodged a police complaint after the district collector revealed the incident to the media after inspection of the Ratna Bhandara on April 4 this year,” Jagannath Sena convener Priyadarshan Patnaik told media persons.

He also demanded the resignation of the Law minister for remaining silent on the sensitive matter.

“If the matter is not resolved at the earliest, the Jagannath Sena would move Orissa High Court seeking its intervention,” he informed.

President of the Sachetana Nagarik Manch, Prasanna Das said the missing of the Ratna Bhandara had come to the limelight after he had lodged an FIR on April 5 suspecting foul play by the 17-member inspection team which returned hastily from the Ratna Bhandara.