Naveen made a phone call to the Prime Minister in the morning and congratulated him for BJP’s victory in Assembly polls held in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, official sources said.

While BJP retained power in Madhya Pradesh, the saffron party registered impressive victory in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

Gayatri Nagar, where Mishra has founded the largest Jagannath Temple of Chhattisgarh, comes under his constituency.

Recently, Mishra was unanimously elected as president of Greater Odia Samaj in Chhattisgarh. The Samaj has been formed with representatives of 24 associations representing 35 lakh Odias living in the state. At present, Mishra also holds the post of chief patron of Chhattisgarh branch of World Odisha Society.

The Odia community across Chhattisgarh has welcomed the nomination of Mishra as BJP candidate in the Assembly election.

This was stated by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while speaking at a function organised by Mahila Morcha in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. The Bill, called as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, will change the fate of the country, he said.

Pradhan said the BJP leaders and workers with the help of local organisations will organise awareness meetings in 50,000 villages. They will convey the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to women empowerment. They will also encourage the women to come forward to participate in decision making process of the administration by becoming law-makers of the country, he added.

“At present, Lok Sabha has 81 women MPs. After the implementation of the Bill, their number will increase to 182. While the Odisha Assembly has 18 women MLAs, it will increase to 49,” Pradhan said.

It may be noted that the Bill to reserve 33% of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for women received the approval of the Parliament on Thursday when the Rajya Sabha unanimously voted in its favour. The Lok Sabha passed it on Wednesday. It will now require approval of a majority of the state Assemblies.

Odisha president of BJP Manmohan Samal also spoke at the function.

Speaking at a presser, BJP’s Rengali MLA Nauri Nayak on Friday said that it would not be possible for the MLAs of western Odisha to reach Bhubaneswar to attend the election as the celebration continues till the next day. “Though we had demanded for a change in election date, the government paid no heed to it,” he said.

Nuakhai is an important agrarian festival of western Odisha and it is celebrated with pomp and gaiety in several districts, including Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Boudh and Sonepur.

“The state government is being run by non-Odia bureaucrats and they seems to have no knowledge about Nuakhai and western Odisha. It is unfortunate that the BJD leaders from western Odisha also did not raise the issue with the government,” he said.

As per the direction of Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra and Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal, the party’s legislators would boycott the poll, he added.

On Thursday, Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra had told the media that the party’s MLAs will not join the election process on September 21 as the festival is observed for two days across the western region of the state. “Despite protests, the government did not listen to our problem. The Congress MLAs will not be able to attend the Speaker election on that day,” he said.

Narasingha also accused Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of meting out “step-motherly” treatment to the people of the region.

While declining to comment on the matter as it is under the Department of Parliamentary Affairs, Planning and Convergence Minister Rajendra Dholakia, who hails from western Odisha, rubbished the allegation. “The CM has always given importance to Western Odisha. Be it medical colleges in Kalahandi and Balangir, there are several examples to show that the allegation is not true,” he told PTI.

On Wednesday, state Congress media cell chairman Ganeswar Behera had said that ‘Nuakhai’ will be celebrated on September 20 while ‘Nuakhai Bhetghat’ will be held on September 21. “People across western Odisha celebrate the festival with enthusiasm and fervour and partake the offering after ‘Nabanna’ is offered to Maa Samaleswari. In view of the importance of this popular festival, the state government generally declares holiday for two days every year. However, only one holiday has been declared this year,” he said in a statement.

Notably, the Speaker post has remained vacant since the resignation of Bikram Keshari Arukha on May 12. Deputy Speaker Rajanikant Singh is in charge now.

The Collector along with SP B Gangadhar were reportedly seen sporting the T-shirts during a mini marathon organised by the Mayurbhanj Special Development Council.

Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, a former IAS officer who has been slamming the state government over a bureaucrat calling the shots, strongly disapproved the Mayurbhanj collector wearing such a T-shirt. “Very unfortunate as well as ridiculous! Collector, Mayurbhanj, Odisha! Degeneration of the official standards to this extent. These officials must know that season is not the same always,” she wrote on X.

Later speaking to media, BJP vice president Lekhasri Samantsinghar also slammed Mayurbhanj Collector and SP for wearing BJD‘s T-shirts with CM‘s logo. “This is a display of disregard for constitutional values. The collector must be aware that it is against the conduct rules to express allegiance to any particular party. There is a strict separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judiciary in the Constitution.” she said.

The BJP leader said that the officers are sending a wrong signal to the society, particularly youth who look up to them as role models. “I would like to tell Vineet Bharadwaj that he has a long career ahead of him and there is no guarantee that the BJD will continue to remain in power. Therefore, he should concentrate on his job and not engage in party activities. I also hope that he realises that he has committed a grave mistake by wearing that T-shirt,” she said.

Lekhasri added that by involving government officials in such activities, the BJD has also indicated that it no longer trusts its party workers. 

Notably, Aparajita too had earlier accused the ruling BJD of engaging government officials in party programmes. She tweeted about a government official addressing a Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) meeting and also shared a video of master book keepers of Self Help Groups (SHG) taking oath to ‘obey’ a BJD MLA.

Last month, she raised the use of helicopter by 5T secretary V K Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer, to travel 30 km to 40 km from the state capital. She also disapproved of officers taking on the mantle of an elected representative. “The MPs and MLAs are not visible and the Chief Minister is under house arrest,” she had alleged, stepping up her attack on the ruling dispensation.

On June 28, she along with BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal had lodged a complaint with the DoPT against the Odisha cadre officer whom they accused of clearly violating the Conduct Rules for the All India Service (AIS) personnel by conducting public meetings and announcing new government schemes.

The saffron party also alleged that the ministers, MLAs and MPs of ruling BJD have accepted the slavery of the bureaucrat.

In his defence, the collector told the media that it was a government event.

Pradhan was admitted to a private hospital for illness and was undergoing treatment there. She succumbed in the hospital in the afternoon, family sources said.

Pradhan’s body was taken in a procession by her family members and BJP workers through the city to her residence near Sangam Cinema at Dolamundai. Several BJP leaders and prominent persons of the city offered their homage to the departed soul.

Odisha unit president of BJP Manmohan Samal, Leader of Opposition in Assembly Jay Narayan Mishra and national vice-president Baijayanta Panda condoled the death of Pradhan.

The last rites of Pradhan, who was elected to Odisha Assembly from Cuttack Sadar once, would be performed at Khannagar cremation ground in the city on Thursday night.

Born in Kendrapada, Pradhan was involved in social service from her student career. Whie studying in Kendrapada College, she joined active politics on the advice of BJP leader Samir Dey.

She served in different capacities in BJP Mahila Morcha before being appointed as general secretary of the state unit of the party. She had first contested for councillor post from Haripur in 1998. She was elected from Haripur where she contested for second time when Ashirbad Behera was the chairman.

Stating that there is an atmosphere of disbelief among the people, he claimed that there are proofs of ‘loot’ of the treasury of the 12th century shrine. Therefore, the Ratna Bhandar should be opened to undertake complete inventory of gold and silver ornaments, gems and jewelleries this month itself.

The senior BJP leader said that people of the state are not ready to wait another year to know about the exact details of the Ratna Bhandar. The state government must take immediate steps to open the Ratna Bhandar now instead of waiting for the Rath Yatra next year, he said.

The demand has come at a time when the figures of silver ornaments in the Ratna Bhandar counted last in 1978 and in the affidavit filed by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in the High Court recently mismatched.

Stating that the Ratna Bhandar has not been opened for the last 45 years after 1978, Mohanty said the recorded figures of the last count, details presented in the state Assembly and figures given in the court affidavit are not matching.

Dharmendra had earlier greeted the people of western districts of the state on the occasion of ‘Sambalpuri Din’ or Sambalpuri Day, which marks the birth anniversary of Satyanarayan Bohidar, who contributed immensely to the Sambalpuri culture.

To mark the occasion, Maa Samaleswari, the presiding deity of Odisha’s Sambalpur district, was also adorned in the traditional handloom attire of the region. Other deities in the temple complex along with the Singha Vahana too were clad in Sambalpuri weaves.

Bohidar was born on August 1, 1913 at Sonepur, then undivided Sambalpur. He spent his formative years in Sambalpur and churned out a good number of literary translations and biographies. Known as the pioneer of Sambalpuri language and grammar, he is remembered for his magnum opus ‘Sambalpuri Bhasakosh’. His other works include ‘Tik Chahnra’, ‘Ghavghavo’, ‘Ghuvkudu’ and several poems. August 1 is officially observed as ‘Samablpuri Din’ to commemorate his immense contribution to literature and culture of the area while celebrating its beautiful weaves.

Pujari lambasted the probe agency for being hand in gloves with the government to protect the mastermind and called the chargesheet a ‘waste paper.’

“The Crime Branch has submitted a 500-page chargesheet and the statements of at least 100 witnesses have been recorded and more than 90 documents have been seized. Going by the chargesheet, I can firmly say that the CID, Crime Branch has tried to ‘hide the truth’ instead of unraveling it,” alleged Pujari.

He further alleged, “The CB chargesheet reveals that Gopal Das killed Naba as he was of the impression that he would be killed by the latter and his supporters. However, it has never been seen that a person has killed someone assuming that he would be killed. In all my 40 years of experience as a lawyer, I have never come across one such single case.”

“I can also say that the Crime Branch tried to go a step ahead, but have returned two steps back. Police have failed to even trace the bullet that pierced through Naba’s chest and came out from his back after being shot by Gopal.”

“On the other hand, the CM Naveen Patnaik himself stated in Assembly that they had sought the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, no FBI report has been attached to the chargesheet. Moreover, the Lie Detection Test and Narco Analysis Test were conducted on Gopal in Gujarat. However, no one has ever asked him if he was provoked or encouraged by someone to commit the heinous crime in the lie detection test and narco analysis test,” Pujari added.

“Most importantly, the CB has not even investigated the call records of Gopal Das. Had the CB scanned his last 15 days’ call records before killing the minister, whom he had met and was in whose contact, everything would have been clear and crystal. The main accused behind the ‘bigger conspiracy’ would have been arrested easily,” Pujari said.

“This chargesheet is a waste paper. A constable of Odisha Police will conduct a better investigation than the Crime Branch. Gopal Das will be saved during the trial and the masterminds in the case are already on the safe side,” Pujari added.

According to a statement given by the Odisha government in the Assembly, the Ratna Bhandar was last opened in 1985 but the latest inventories of the valuables were made in 1978.

Until 1985, nobody had seen the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar, which was divided into two parts. The outer chamber is regularly opened and ornaments are taken out by the priests on festivals.

As per an order of the Orissa High Court, there was an attempt made to open the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar on April 4, 2018. But it could not be opened as the temple administration could not find the keys. The officials, servitors and experts, who went inside the Ratna Bhandar, had to return from the outer chamber.

But the administration did not make it public that the key was missing until the matter was raised in the managing committee meeting two days after the attempts were made to open the Ratna Bhandar.

Interestingly, after some days, following a hue and cry, all of a sudden the Puri district administration claimed that a duplicate key of the Ratna Bhandar was available. Where did the duplicate come from and where has the original key gone? It created a lot of confusion among Lord Jagannath’s devotees across the country.

Later, the Justice Raghubir Das Inquiry Commission on the Ratna Bhandar was set up and Justice Das had submitted the final report to the state government in November, 2018. The Commission report has not yet been placed in the Assembly.

With this background, there has been a demand for reopening the Ratna Bhandar for a long time. During his visit to Odisha in December last year, BJP national president J.P. Nadda had raised the issue and targeted the BJD government. He had asked about the missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath temple. The BJP chief had also alleged that the BJD government had failed to protect the valuable gems and assets of Mahaprabhu Jagannath.

On different occasions, the party has demanded the reopening of the Ratna Bhandar, which is also reportedly in need of some repairs. Not only the BJP, several opposition parties including the Congress, Puri King Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb and many senior servitors of Puri temple have also urged the Odisha government to reopen the Ratna Bhandar, and undertake the repairing work and inventory of the valuables of Lord Jagannath.

Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan has also demanded reopening of the treasure of the temple. However, the state government did not pay any heed to the demand.

With no option in hand, the BJP knocked at the doors of the Orissa High Court very recently. Admitting a petition filed by the former president of the Odisha BJP Samir Mohanty, the High Court, on July 5 served notices to four persons on the opening of the Ratna Bhandar of the Shree Jagannath temple.

“Though 45 years have passed, the government has not reopened the Ratna Bhandar. When the Puri king and Jagannath devotees across the world are waiting to know whether the valuables of Jagannath are safe in Ratna Bhandar, the government is in deep sleep,” alleged Mohanty.

The BJP leader said he has moved the HC and the court has taken it seriously. The next hearing is set for August 7.

When media persons recently asked about reopening of the Ratna Bhandar, Law Minister Jagannath Saraka said, “We do not know whether the keys of Ratna Bhandar have gone missing or not. The matter is now before the Orissa High Court. The state government will take necessary steps after examining different aspects as per the directive of the court.”

In 2021 then law minister Pratap Jena informed the Assembly that the Ratna Bhandar was opened in 1978. At that time, it had more than 12,831 ‘bhari’ of gold and 22,153 ‘bhari’ silver (one bhari equals 11.66 grams).

The storehouse had 12,831 grams of gold ornaments with expensive stones and other valuables. Similarly, 22,153 grams of silver with expensive stones, silver utensils and other valuables were found.

However, 14 gold and silver items could not be weighed during the inventory process for various reasons. During the process, the value of the items was not assessed, the Minister had said in his written statement.