Congress launches 'Sankirtan Satyagrah' demanding reopening of all four gates of Puri Srimandir

The Congress party in Odisha launched a 'Sankirtan Satyagrah' on Thursday putting forth several demands including reopening of all four gates of Puri Srimandir and Ratna Bhandar.

The protest has been launched at all the Municipalities and NACs across Odisha. While the party members held the Satyagrah in front of the Congress Bhavan in Bhubaneswar by putting the idols of the Holy Trinity, the Puri unit of the party sat in front of the Singhadwara of Srimandir and performed sankirtan as a mark of protest.

Speaking about the protest, a Congress member said, “Our primary demand is to reopen all four doors of the Srimandir following which the huge rush at the Singhadwara can be avoided. Right now, devotees are forced to suffer by standing in long queues that stretch till Badasankha. Our second demand is to count the gems and jewellery inside the Ratna Bhandar by opening it.”

“We know the missing of the Ratna Bhandar keys was a farce staged by the Odisha government to evade scrutiny during inventory. So, we demand to make the jewellery inside Ratna Bhandar public for the sake of millions of Jagannath devotees,” the party member added.

Congress leader Debasis Ray said, “The SJTA and the district Collector lied to us when they promised us to reopen the doors. As far as the Ratna Bhandar is concerned, they told the media that it will be repaired during Rath Yatra. Even the BJP is supporting the BJD on this. That means, neither the BJD nor the BJP want to open the Ratna Bhandar before elections. What are they hiding inside it?

It is pertinent to mention here that the Congress earlier took out a rally in Puri on October 16 and handed over a memorandum to the Chief of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) demanding reopening of the four doors of the Srimandir. But the SJTA did not take any steps in this connection, prompting the party to hold another protest today.

Reopening of all four gates and the Ratna Bhandar has been a long-standing demand of the Opposition, more importantly, the locals of Puri town. The district administration has already said that all the doors cannot be opened now due to the construction work under the Parikrama project.

PCC president Sarat Pattanayak said, “The four gates of Srimandir have not been opened as yet. People are doubtful about how far the laser scanning of the Ratna Bhandar would be successful. Last time when there was an effort to open the Ratna Bhandar, its key went missing. As the government is delaying the process, apprehension is rising among people over possible misappropriation of the treasure of Lord Jagannath.” 

Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati warned of agitation if the government fails to open the four gates of Srimandir and the Ratna Bhandar before the month of Kartika and reclaim the land given to Vedanta.

Former PCC president, Jaydev Jena, demanded a Heritage Corridor-like project in Keonjhar.