V K Pandian Fact Checks Dharmendra’s Claim On Central Grant For Nabakalebara Of Lord Jagannath

Bhubaneswar: BJD leader V K Pandian on Monday accused Union Minister and BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan of peddling lies in the name of Lord Jagannath

“The Union Minister yesterday said that a grant of Rs 50 crore from the Centre was released to the state treasury for ‘Nabakalebara’ of the sibling deities at Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri. I would like to state some facts here. Only Rs 10.5 crore of the sanctioned amount was released and that too to India Tourism Development Corporation on June 4, 2015, as the executing agency. And the total expenditure incurred was Rs 6.92 crore,” he said, adding that such lies should not be spread when it comes to the works related to the Lords.

Pandian, who had earlier accused Dharmendra of attempting to stop the heritage corridor project at the 12th-century shrine, also released some documents to prove his point.

This came a day after Dharmendra claimed that he had himself released Rs 50 crore to the state treasury on March 30, 2015.

This was another round of bout between Dharmendra and Pandian, who have been taking frequent potshots at each other, especially with the saffron party making ‘Odia Asmita’ a major poll issue, which according to the former was set as the agenda for the 2024 elections to caution people of the state about unethical, undemocratic and unconstitutional attempts to promote a bureaucrat-turned-politician from outside Odisha to be the power centre and decide the fate of people.

While Dharmendra has coined the word ‘gumasta (representative/ agency)’ in an indirect dig at the former IAS officer, the latter has questioned the Union minister’s contribution to Odisha at his elections rallies.

While stating that he would quit politics if chief minister Naveen Patnaik doesn’t return to power with a three-fourth majority, the BJD leader recently challenged Dharmendra to do the same if BJP loses the elections in Odisha while addressing a public gathering at Panchgaon Bazar ground in Lakhanpur block of Brajarajnagar assembly constituency.