Puri temple servitors threaten to boycott Chhatisa Nijog meeting today

Puri: Servitors of the Sri Jagannath temple threatened to boycott the Chhatisa Nijog meeting to be held today at the SJTA office if action is not taken against wife and son of Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Rajesh Verma for getting into Bhitarakatha (inner barricade) within the temple’s sanctum sanctorum on May 10.

Senior servitor of the Sri Jagannath temple Rajat Kumar Pratihari said, “Though we have lodged an FIR regarding the incident, no action has been taken against the family of Rajesh Verma yet. Therefore, we demand the SJTA should take some steps in this regard. Otherwise servitors will boycott the Chhatisa Nijog meeting.”

Another servitor Soumendra Muduli said, “We request the SJTA to find a way out after holding talks with all the parties.”

Meanwhile, Puri district collector Arvind Agarwal stated that the family of the Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary has accepted the entry of Verma’s wife and son into the temple’s Bhitarakatha is a mistake made ‘unintentionally’.

Along with the Puri Collector and SJTA official, Verma was inspecting the Jagamohan repair work progress during which the wife and son of the Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary entered the area close to the Ratnasinhasana.

It is worth to be mentioned that outsiders are not allowed to enter the inner sanctum sanctorum of the Srimandir due to the Jagamohan repair work and can pay obeisance to the deities near the Jay Bijaya Dwara only.