BHUBANESWAR: THE controversy over alleged disrespect to the First Lady, Savita Kovind in Puri Jagannath temple has taken a new turn with the opposition political parties demanding action against those behind the row after the press secretary to the President of India Ashok Malik stating that no complaint was lodged by the Rashtrapati B h aw a n w i t h t h e l o c a l administration. Malik maintained that no letter was written on behalf of the President on disrespect shown to him and his wife by the servitors during their visit to the Jagannath temple on March 18.
Asserting that the reports published in several electronic and print media about this matter are baseless, he said any person who claims that such a letter has been issued by the Rashtrapati Bhawan should come up with evidence. Malik said though some servitors had breached the security protocol and tried to meet the President inside the temple, they were prohibited by the security personnel. Meanwhile, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has targeted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the issue. “As far as I know, no such incident occurred during the visit of the President to the Jagannath Temple. Since there is no question of a written complaint to the temple administration from the Rashtrapati Bhawan, who made this issue controversial and with what intention? Let the Chief Minister give a clarification whether the statement of the BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb or the Chief Secretary is true,” Pradhan told mediapersons.
The Union Minister wanted to know on what basis the BJD leader made a statement about the complaint. “Was he briefed by the Chief Secretary or the Chief Minister?” he asked. Deb, however, said he had given a statement on this issue on the basis of the information by the media and it should be answerable. Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi had on Thursday denied receiving any such complaint from the Rashtrapati Bhawan in this regard. He said he does not have anything else to add since the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had already issued a clarification in this regard. Prior to the statement of the Chief Secretary, SJTA Chief Administrator Pradipta Mohapatra had said since the temple administration has not received any letter from Rashtrapati Bhawan regarding the incident, the matter should end there.
