Ahead of polls, Naveen Patnaik makes it 'Jai Sri Ram' vs 'Jai Jagannath'

Puri: Ahead of the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, a political slugfest has erupted between the BJD and the BJP in Odisha with the ruling party in the state raising 'Jai Jagannath' slogan to counter the BJP's 'Jai Sri Ram'.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday inaugurated the newly built corridor of the Jagannath temple in Puri amid chants of vedic hymns, just before the January 22 consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The Odisha government is now all set to arrange visits of about 10,000 people every day from different parts of the state to see the project for the next one month. Assembly polls in Odisha are likely to be held along with the Lok Sabha elections this year.

A senior BJD leader told PTI on the condition of anonymity that Patnaik, who has been at the helm of the state for more than 23 years, is aware of every threat that the rivals may pose.

"What the BJP wants to do through Ram Mandir and 'pran pratishtha' ceremony... Naveen Babu is not oblivious to this," he said.

"You (BJP) say 'Jai Shri Ram' and we have Lord Jagannath... 'Jai Jagannath'," he said, when asked about BJD's plan to counter the strong Hindutva pitch of the BJP, which is the main opposition party in the state assembly.

The Jagannath Temple Corridor has been developed on the lines of Kashi Vishwanath temple of Varanasi and Mahakal temple of Ujjain. The inaugural ceremony was attended by top representatives from several prominent temples of the country.

Officials said about 10,000 temples and various places of worship in the state are also ready to be renovated and funds for this purpose have been allocated.

Interestingly, the BJP has adopted the similar tactics towards the Jagannath Temple Parikrama Project here which the opposition parties have followed over the Ram temple consecration ceremony at Ayodhya.

BJP state president Manmohan Samal alleged that the parikrama project was being inaugurated by the state government as if it was a BJD event. That is why the BJP kept a distance from the event.

The opposition parties, particularly the Congress, have levelled the same allegation against the BJP, saying the ruling party has turned the ceremony at Ayodhya into a political one.

Popularly known as 'Naveen Babu', 77-year-old Patnaik will seek a mandate for his sixth consecutive term in the elections due in the next few months. The biggest challenge before him is the main opposition BJP in the state.

In the last assembly elections, out of 146 seats, the BJD won 112 seats, the BJP bagged 23 and the Congress got only nine seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJD won 12 out of 21 seats, the BJP bagged eight and the Congress won just one seat.

According to the beliefs of Hinduism, Puri is one of the four holy shrines in the country. Lord Jagannath or Shri Krishna sits here along with elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra.

Munna Panda, the priest of the Jagannath temple, told PTI that Lord Ram is in the hearts of everyone but Lord Jagannath has a special place in the hearts of the people of Odisha.

The only difference is that the corridor to the Jagannath temple has been built in Puri while the Ram temple is being built in Ayodhya after a long battle, he said.

The leaders of the Odisha BJP, along with the office-bearers of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, have launched a door-to-door drive to invite people to the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya with 'akshat' (rice grains mixed with turmeric and ghee). They are sharing videos on social media related to the Ram temple movement and the incidents of firing on 'karsevaks' (volunteers).

Professor Sanjay Kumar, co-director of 'Lokniti', a research programme at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said the growing influence of religion in politics cannot be denied.

He said the BJP was trying to create a countrywide narrative over the construction of Ram temple and the opposition parties were making efforts to counter it at their level.

"The BJD is countering religion with religion, while the Congress and other opposition parties are trying to do so through the issue of caste census against the BJP at the national level. In my opinion, Patnaik seems to be in a better position (to counter the BJP) than the other parties," he said.

However, Congress' in-charge of Odisha affairs Ajoy Kumar disagreed.

"For us, both Lord Ram and Lord Jagannath are matters of faith. There is no greater 'adharma' (sin) than making God a subject for electoral gains,’’ he said.

Patnaik has been in power in the state since he became the chief minister for the first time in 2000. His successive victories are credited to his government's welfare schemes.