Strongly oppose ISKCON proposal of untimely Rath Yatra: BJD leader

Bhubaneswar: BJD leader S R Patnaik on Thursday strongly opposed a proposal by the ISKCON Ludhiana unit to organise the annual Rath Yatra on a different date, and urged the Odisha chief minister to take up the matter with his Punjab counterpart.

The issue was raised by Patnaik in the assembly, who cited reports that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness's (ISKCON) Ludhiana unit was planning to hold Lord Jagannath's annual Rath Yatra on November 16.

The festival is usually observed on the second day of 'sukla pakshya' in the month of 'Asadha', as per the Hindu calendar.

"Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should take up the matter with his Punjab counterpart and ensure that ISKCON is not allowed to conduct Lord Jagannth's Rath Yatra in November," he said.

"People of Odisha may revolt against ISKCON if they hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus," Patnaik alleged.