Chanting of Gita likely to be held during Jagannath Temple inauguration: Min

Minister of State for Correctional Home Administration (Independent charge) Akhil Giri on Wednesday said that chanting of “Bhagavad Gita” would be organised at the inauguration ceremony of the Jagannath Temple in Digha.

The temple, a dream project of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, may be inaugurated by her early next year.

Giri said that the Chief Minister will inaugurate the temple. The date will be fixed as per the instruction of the Chief Minister. Giri said that at least 10,000 people will take part in the chanting of “Bhagavad Gita”. Lakhs of people who are visiting Puri will come to Digha and the shrine will be more or less of the same size and height as that of Puri.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had earlier said that chanting from Bhagavad Gita in Brigade, organised by the “Ek Lokho Konthe Geeta Path” committee, an association of three organisations, was politically motivated. Bengal minister and TMC leader Udayan Guha on Sunday criticised a Gita recitation event in Kolkata’s historical Brigade Parade Ground, saying that the event was “political” and the BJP was trying to garner Hindu votes through it.

Notably, the BJP has denied this claim, saying that three apolitical organisations had planned the event. BJP claimed that it was not their programme but it saw the participation of several prominent BJP leaders from Bengal.