Puri Heritage Corridor Project | ‘It Is Lord Jagannath’s Wish’: BJD MP Slams Oppn

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress can go to the court if they have any objection to the ongoing works.

New Delhi: Lambasting the Opposition, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Pinaki Misra has said no one can stop the work of the heritage corridor in the pilgrim town of Puri as Lord Jagannath wants it and added that nothing illegal was happening in the project. “The construction work is going on round the clock. It is also the wish of Lord Jagannath that the project work is finish at the earliest. No agency can stop the ongoing construction work as the Lord wants it,” PTI quoted Misra as saying.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress can go to the court if they have any objection to the ongoing works.

The Lok Sabha MP from Puri, however, drew flak for the remarks he made earlier on Saturday as the Congress activists threw inks targeting his cavalcade and showed him black flags.

The police have detained eight people in connection with the incident, which took place near Jhadeswari temple in Puri hours after Misra made the comment amid the controversy over the project.

This comes as the Opposition parties and several socio-religious organisations are protesting the construction works near the 12th-century shrine, which they claim have damaged the ancient structure.

Aiming to make Puri an international destination, the government is building several modern amenities as a part of the project for the pilgrims’ benefit.

Govardhan Peeth’s Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati alleged that the government was “destroying” the mutts of Puri in the name of development.

“The government should not consider that the people's mandate will remain with it forever. The BJP and BJD work hand in hand, while the Congress has become weak,” he said.