Is the prasad of the Jagannath temple in Digha actually the neighborhood's gaja-perda? Explosive claim by Subhendu.
BS News Agency: The heat in state politics over the Jagannath temple does not seem to be abating. This time, the state's opposition leader Subhendu Adhikari has spoken out about the temple's prasad. He claims, 'The trust of Hindus is being hurt in the name of prasad.' At a press conference on Friday, Subhendu said, 'In the name of prasad, gaja and perda are being distributed from local sweet shops in Digha, which do not come from Digha.'
Subhendu sarcastically said, 'This is Mamata Banerjee's prasad.' His message to the people of the state is, 'Take it if it does not rot, but do not accept it as prasad.' He also claimed, 'We have exposed it, the trust of Hindus is being hurt, an extreme lie.'
What exactly did Subhendu say?
The opposition leader said, 'Jagannath Mahaprabhu is in various colors in the state. Again, he has ordered to make a packet to hurt the trust of Hindus in West Bengal. The packet costs 20 rupees. 1 gaja, 1 perda. There is no objection to this. There is no objection to allocating 20 rupees... It is being made in local sweet shops. It is not coming from Digha. Orders have been given to distribute Digha's prasad through door-to-door ration.'
Taking a dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Shuvendu further said, 'It has been given a name. What a big blow to trust. Take it as Mamata Banerjee's gaja, perda, do not take it as prasad, if you are a real Hindu...'
Regardless, state politics has been active since the beginning regarding the Digha Jagannath temple. Earlier, the opposition leader had claimed that neem wood was stolen from Odisha to build idols in the Digha Jagannath temple. In the neem wood controversy, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, 'I have never been in such a bad situation that I had to steal neem wood.'