CM's meeting on Rath Jatra postponed amidst boycott call

Amidst a call by servitors of the Jagannath temple at Puri to boycott the fourth Ratha Jatra Coordination Committee meeting, the same was postponed to Friday, officials said.

The meeting to be chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was postponed due to his other engagements, officials here claimed.

Shree Jagannath Sevayat Sammilani, a body of the servitors, appealed to its members on Sunday not to attend today's meeting to protest the alleged attempt to defame them.

The Sammilani had also put up posters on the walls of the 12th century temple condemning the "repressive" attitude of the Puri collector towards the servitors.

The posters cited a "series of false allegations and anti-servitor" tendency of the Puri collector to "defame" the servitors on several issues including a purported letter received from Rashtrapati Bhawan on the alleged disrespect to President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife Savita Kovind, during their visit to the temple on March 18.

Officials said both the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration and the district administration have been talking to the servitors to persuade them to withdraw the boycott call.

Usually four coordination committee meetings are held every year ahead of the Rath Jatra. The fourth and final meeting is chaired by the chief minister for taking stock of the preparedness for the annual festival.

Secretary of the Sammilani, Kashinath Khuntia, said "As the district collector will be present at the meeting, the Sammilani has urged servitors not to participate in it."