BJD Demands Judicial Probe into Mismanagement and Chaos During This Year’s RathYatra, Submits Memorandum to Governor

• BJD accuses State Government of negligence and insensitivity leading to chaos.
• Over 10,000 cordon passes allegedly issued, causing crowd mismanagement.
• chariot pulling after sunset violated traditional norms.

Bhubaneswar, 04/07/2025:The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Odisha, Shri RaghubarKambhampati, demanding a judicial inquiry—led by a sitting High Court judge—into the widespread mismanagement and chaos that reportedly occurred during this year’s RathYatra.

The BJD urged the Governor to intervene directly and ensure the remaining rituals and events of the RathYatra are conducted smoothly and without further disorder.

A high-level delegation of senior BJD leaders met the Governor this morning and presented him with the memorandum. The document described multiple instances of serious mismanagement during the sacred festival, which they claimed had deeply hurt the sentiments of millions of Lord Jagannath devotees.

The BJD blamed the newly formed BJP-led State Government’s “reckless attitude and lack of sensitivity” for the complete failure in crowd control on the first day of the RathYatra. According to the memorandum, more than 750 devotees were injured. Three people lost their lives due to a stampede near the Gundicha temple when the three chariots came to a halt. The BJD also alleged that despite having valid cordon passes, senior journalists from Bhubaneswar covering the RathYatra were denied entry inside the cordon and six journalists were reportedly seriously injured in a police lathi-charge.

Furthermore, mismanagement in traffic and crowd control caused immense hardship for devotees from across the country and abroad. The State Government reportedly issued over 10,000 cordon passes, mostly to BJP workers, leading to severe overcrowding inside restricted areas and chaos during the pulling of the chariots.

The memorandum mentioned that several review meetings had been conducted under the leadership of the Chief Minister and the Law Minister to ensure a flawless and historic RathYatra, and a five-member ministerial committee led by Deputy Chief Minister PrabhatiParida was also constituted. Despite these preparations, what transpired was a “new low” in terms of disorganization and confusion.

A significant deviation from tradition was also noted. As per custom, chariot pulling does not take place after sunset, but this year, Lord Jagannath’sNandighosa chariot could not begin its journey before sunset. Just to symbolically observe the ritual, the chariot was pulled for a few feet at 7:45 PM, which has reportedly disheartened many devotees across the state.

The BJD also raised concerns that the Shree Jagannath Temple Management Committee’s term has not in place since last nine months, and a new committee has not yet been constituted. As a result, the temple has been operating without an official management committee.

The memorandum recalled last year’s incident during the Pahandi procession, when Lord Balabhadra fell, shocking and upsetting countless devotees. Although the State Government had announced a three-member inquiry committee at the time, no report has been published even after a year.

While the current government has announced an administrative inquiry into this year’s RathYatra chaos, the BJD expressed doubt over its effectiveness and demanded a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge for transparency and accountability.

Senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra briefed the Governor on the various allegations concerning the RathYatra mishaps. Other prominent BJD leaders who interacted were Sanjay Das Burma, ArunSahoo, AtanuSabyasachiNayak, Pratap Jena, Ashok Panda, ChandrashekharSahu, Kalikesh Narayan Singhdeo, PritiranjanGhadei, Sulochana Das, SubashishKhuntia, and Sunil Mohanty, among others.

The large BJD delegation that met the Governor comprised senior party leaders such as RanendraPratap Swain, Ananta Narayan Jena, UmakantaSamantaray, TusharkantiBehera, Subash Singh, ManmathRautray, ManjulataKanhar, DilipNayak, RajendraSahu, BibhutiBalabantaray, Naba Kishore Mallick, Raghunath Sahu, Pradeep Sahu, PranabBalabantaray, Byomakesh Ray, Debi RanjanTripathy, Rohit Pujari, Dhruva Sahu, AnshumanMahanti, AravindMahapatra, PrashantaMuduli, SharmisthaSethy, RajashreeMallick, Sarada Jena, Ramesh Chandra Behera, SambitRautray, BijayNayak, SwadhinNayak, Vidyadhar Swain, LekhasriSamantsinghar, BhruguBuxipatra, Dr. Lenin Mohanty, Dr. PriyabrataMajhi, Prafulla Singh, SurendraMahapatra, Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra, Rajesh Raj Swain, IpsitaSahoo, Miku Pradhan, PradoshParida, SujitPaltasingh, BijayaketanSahu, DhrutiRanjan Martha, Elina Das, TariniNayak, Rashmi Ranjan Das, Sofia Alam, ManasiSundarray, PritinandaRautray, Bharati Singh, Mahamaya Swain, DebashishPattnaik, and Benudhar Pradhan.