Bhubaneswar: Former Chief Minister and BJD Supremo Naveen Patnaik on Saturday expressed deep sadness and disappointment over the tragic death of a devotee during the Bahuda Yatra of Lord Jagannath in Puri.
A devotee identified as Abhiram Das from Cuttack died after he fell ill and fainted while pulling the ‘Darpadalan’ chariot of Devi Subhadra on Friday. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
In a strongly-worded statement, Naveen Patnaik said he was “deeply saddened and heartbroken” by the incident. He extended his condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured in the stampede. However, Patnaik expressed sharp disappointment over the recurring nature of such accidents during the annual Rath Yatra.
He questioned why accidents, stampedes, and deaths keep happening every year during the Rath Yatra despite it being a massive annual event. He accused the government of failing to improve crowd management and safety measures over the years.
“Why do such accidents keep occurring repeatedly during Rath Yatra? Why is the government working in such a carefree manner?” he questioned. He criticised the government for not attaching due importance to the safe conduct of Mahaprabhu’s sacred nine-day journey and accused it of failing to learn from past mistakes.
He also accused the government of being casual and negligent in managing this world-famous religious event.
“It feels as though this government has no inclination to learn from past mistakes. One after another, accidents are happening every year during Rath Yatra—people are losing their lives, the state is being discredited—but there is no change whatsoever in the government’s approach. Rather than learning from errors, it seems like everything is being handled with a stopgap policy” Patnaik said.
He further wrote: “After how many more accidents will the government wake up? When such incidents occur every year, it is all the more unfortunate that the government learns nothing from them.”
He urged the government to take special care to ensure the smooth and safe completion of the remaining events — from Suna Besha to Niladri Bije — so that no more devotees lose their lives while seeking darshan of Lord Jagannath.
