Puri, July 20 : Demand to open all gates of the famed Jagannath temple for devotees has gained momentum after local BJP MLA Jayant Kumar Sarangi on Wednesday came down heavily upon the temple and district administration for not opening the temple gates which were closed for the Corona pandemic.
In a press meet here, Sarangi said he had raised the issue and discussed the matter with the collector and the temple administration a number of times, but to little effect.
The single entry through only Simhadwar had put the local devotees in difficult situation. Devotees stand for hours in long queue braving the harsh weather to enter the temple through the Simhadwar, Sarangi said.
Sarangi threatened that BJP will stage an intense agitation if the administration did not open all gates for devotees within a week .
He said the issue will be also be raised in the coming session of the state assembly.
Meanwhile, Prasanna Kumar Dash, the convenor of Sachetan Nagarik Munch who has raised the issue aggressively and launched a signature campaign in favour of opening all temple gates for devotees, has got the support from all sections of the society including servitors .
On Wednesday, Prasanna Dash accompanied by Priyadarshan Pattnaik the convenor of Jagannath Sena and Suryanarayan Rath met the district collector Samarth Verma and appraised him about the immense difficulty being faced by devotees.
Verma told news persons that he has received a number of appeals to open all gates for the devotees as was the practice before Corona pandemic. A decision will be taken after discussing the matter with the state government, he said.
