BJD trying to cash in on ‘Ram wave’, alleges BJP; ruling party responds

Has fear crept into the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) after seeing the massive Ram Lalla wave? Is the BJD trying to cash in on the Ram Lalla wave that is now prevailing after the historic Pran Prathistha ceremony in Ayodhya? Is the ruling party playing the soft Hindutva card after its plan to seek votes using Lord Jagannath’s name failed?

Such allegations have been leveled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Saffron party has accused the BJD of trying to gain political mileage from the euphoria generated over Ram Lalla.

BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who did not visit Puri Srimandir despite being present for the Heritage Corridor project inauguration, on Tuesday visited Jagannath Temple for a darshan.

Odisha BJP vice-president, Golak Mohapatra said that the Naveen Patnaik government had not paid any heed when they requested to grant holiday and closure of liquor shops on the Pran Prathistha day. Only after seeing the entire country’s mood and enthusiasm of people, the government was forced to declare a half-day holiday.

“The BJD is hungry for votes and it is now trying to seek votes by using Lord Ram after failing in its attempt to seek votes using Lord Jagannath’s name,” said Mohapatra.

Responding to the allegations, BJD MLA Nursingha Sahu said, “In Odisha, Lord Jagannath and Lord Ram are the same. There is an impact of CM Naveen Patnaik’s inauguration of the Parikrama Project on people. The way they (BJP) are politicising and trying to take mileage is wrong.”

At a time when a lot of top BJP leaders and Ministers did not visit Ayodhya for the grand event, BJD Minister Niranjan Pujari and MP Achyuta Samanta had attended the Pran Prathistha ceremony. Earlier, a video of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik watching the Pran Prathistha ceremony on television was released yesterday.

Surprisingly, Odisha is the only non-BJP-ruled state which announced a holiday. A lot of BJD leaders were seen attending programmes organised in different parts of the state to mark the auspicious occasion.

Berhampur MLA Bikram Panda and MP Chandrasekhar Sahu visited a Ram temple and offered prayers. MLA Sushant Singh was seen lighting a diya at a temple at Sohela in Bargarh.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Opposition had targeted Odisha CM for not having a darshan of Lord Jagannath when he had visited Puri for the inauguration programme of the Parikrama project.

“Fearing that they (BJD) will fall back if they do not say Jay Shree Ram and a wrong notion will be created in the minds of people for which there are some changes in their approach,” said Senior journalist, Sandeep Sahu.