Ruckus in Odisha assembly over disruptions in temple rituals

The Odisha assembly proceedings were disrupted today for the second consecutive day over non-observance of religious rituals including the failure to offer 'bhog' to the deity in Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri.

The opposition members accused the state government of failing to restore the rituals of offering "bhog" to the deity.

As soon as the House assembled for the Question Hour, Congress Chief Whip Taraprasad Bahinipati and other party MLAs rushed to the well, demanding a statement from the government over wastage of a huge quantity of "mahaprasad" due to disruption in the rituals.

They raised slogans against the state government and blamed the temple administration for failing to restore normalcy in the rituals.

Amid the persisting ruckus, Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat adjourned the House three times. Amat first adjourned the House till 11.30 am, later to 12.50 pm and further till 4 pm.

As the deadlock continued, Amat called for an all-party meeting during which the Congress legislators demanded that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik or the law minister should make a statement in the House.

After the all-party meeting, Bahinipati threatened that the party would not allow the House to function unless the government restored normalcy in the temple.

"It is a painful incident that the deities were not offered 'mahaprasad' due to a controversy. It is the responsibility of the state government to resolve the issue and restore the rituals in the 12th Century shrine," Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said.

The Treasury bench members, however, said the row was concerned with the faith and beliefs of the millions of Odias and should not be politicised.

Senior BJD leader and former minister Damodar Rout said the administration should not get involved in the controversy as the rituals and related matters were under the discretion of Puri Gajapati king Dibyasingh Deb and Shankaracharya Nischalanand Saraswati. He suggested both Deb and the Shankaracharya should come forward to restore normalcy in the temple.

The disruption has been caused as the 'Palia' servitor, who was supposed to perform the puja, has failed to turn up due to ill health.

Meanwhile, the all-party meeting has decided that the state government will give a statement in the House when it reassemble at 4 pm.

'Bhog' was offered to the deities in the morning day before yesterday, but not in the afternoon and evening. No 'bhog' was offered yesterday. 'Bhog' was offered this morning, but there was uncertainty over afternoon and evening 'bhog', temple officials said.

A dispute among servitors over conducting 'puja' has led to the disruptions in the wake of the illness of the 'Palia' servitor, they said.