Union Minister’s Twitter Post On Lingaraj Temple Creates Furore

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Statistics and Programme Implementation Vijay Goel found himself in an embarrassing situation after posting a photograph of the sanctum sanctorum of Lingaraj Temple on his Twitter page on April 1 while wishing the people of Odisha on the occasion of Utkala Dibasa.

The photograph posted by Goel on his Twitter page was taken last year when he had visited the temple and performed rituals inside the sanctum sanctorum. It is not yet known as to who took the photograph showing the Union Minister pouring milk on the Shiva Linga.

While the incident has hurt the sentiments of the devotees across the state, there also has been political reactions on this issue.

Ssenior Congress leader Sura Routray demanded immediate resignation of Goel. “Either the Union Minister should resign or be driven out of the Union Cabinet by the Prime Minister. He should tender unconditional apology to the people of Odisha else there would be a statewide agitation and the people will not allow him to set foot in Odisha again,” he said.

Asked about the incident, BJP state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said the Union Minister was neither briefed by the temple administration nor by the temple servitors about the ban on taking photographs.

Though Harichandan said that his party would tender unconditional apology to the people of Odisha, he was quick to point out that there was no restriction on taking photos of ancient temples in the country.

BJD leader and Rajya Sabha member Prasant Nanda said the photograph posted by the Union Minister is against the religious tradition and he should tender unconditional apology to the people of Odisha, the way Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon did after her shooting session inside the temple in March created a furore.

Terming the incident as unfortunate, executive officer of Lingaraj Temple Rajiv Parida said the temple administration would ask the Union Minister to immediately remove the photograph from his Twitter page.

Meanwhile, following the reactions to the posting of the temple photo on the twitter, the Union minister in a message said he has withdrawn the photos that were posted

In a message on Monday, Goel said he had by mistake tweeted the photo of the temple from his trip to the Odisha last year.

Apologising for his mistake, he said he has withdrawn these photos as he did not wish to hurt anyone’s sentiments.