'Deeply disgraceful', Amit Malviya flags Bengal govt's ad on Jagannath Cultural Complex event

Kolkata, May 1 (IANS) BJP’s Information Technology Cell chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal Amit Malviya, on Thursday raised question on why the West Bengal government had officially described the Lord Jagannath temple at Digha in East Midnapore district as “Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre” in official documents of the state government.

In a statement issued by Malviya, which was posted on his official X handle in the morning, he also claimed that the advertisements of the state government on the Digha temple, arguably a cultural centre, were inappropriate in content.

“It is deeply disgraceful that the Mamata Banerjee government’s advertisements for the inauguration of the Jagannath Cultural Complex in Digha appeared to promote inappropriate content,” Malviya commented.

He has also described such advertisements as a deliberate insult to Hindu sentiments and a profound disrespect to the devotees of Lord Jagannath.

“Such actions reflect a lack of genuine devotion, driven instead by regressive and cynical political motives,” Malviya’s statement read.

His post on X also highlighted the advertisements.

The inauguration of the Digha temple, reportedly modelled after the iconic Shree Jagannath Dham Temple in Puri, Odisha, took place with much pomp and grandeur on Wednesday in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

In the records of West Bengal Housing Development Corporation (WBHIDCO), the autonomous body of the state government and the implementing agency for the construction of the Digha temple, the construction has been identified as “Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre”.

Political observers feel that this was done deliberately to avoid controversies, since ideally, no state government can directly be involved with any affair of a religious institution.

Earlier, controversies surfaced over the Digha temple as the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, challenged the Chief Minister's claims that the Lord Jagannath temple in Digha has been modelled after the iconic Puri Temple.

Adhikari challenged the Chief Minister to clarify why the proposed temple had been named Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre and not Shree Jagannath Temple.

"The Chief Minister should immediately give instructions so that the name is changed from 'Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre' to 'Shree Jagannath Temple' in all the related state government documents.

"The name change should also be made in the tenders and documents of WBHIDCO, responsible for the construction of the proposed temple at Digha, the cost of which is borne from the state government’s exchequer," the LoP claimed.

--IANS

src/dpb