Temple narrative no guarantee for win

Voters in Odisha's Puri and Sambalpur say local issues, poll dynamics matter

- RAMANI RANJAN MOHAPATRA

At 9.30 am, it's humid with an overcast sky in Puri a familiar setting of the coastal town. In a makeshift air-conditioned tunnel, devotees are waiting to have darshan (glimpse) of Lord Jagannatha at the 12th-century shrine, thanks to the Naveen Patnaik government's "thoughtful arrangement".

Minutes later, the clouds give way to the scorching sun.

A heated discussion ensues metres away when a local woman confronts a police constable.

She blames Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government for displacing small businesses because of the Parikrama (heritage corridor) project.

"We were left in the cold," laments Tilottama Behera, who used to run a makeshift shop on the road in front of the temple.

Amid much fanfare in January, days before the consecration ceremony of Lord Rama in Ayodhya, Patnaik inaugurated the 75-metre heritage corridor in Puri.

The city's infrastructure also got a facelift, and the project, including the promotional activities, cost the government around ₹4,500 crore.

The BJD government, in its fifth term, has revamped major temples across the state, a move political analysts claim is a counter to the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) Ram Mandir narrative.

The government has so far allocated 3,709 crore towards the preservation of Jagannatha culture and the development of amenities near places of worship under the Ama Odisha Nabin  Lok Sabha Seat Odisha scheme.