Congress’s Tulasi Yatra Receives Grand Welcome in Satyabadi
Today, the State Congress organized the Tulasi Yatra. Tulasi leaves were collected from 314 blocks across Odisha, and Congress leaders and workers gathered at the Congress Bhavan in Bhubaneswar to commence their march toward Shreekhetra (Puri). As the yatra carrying the collected Tulasi leaves made its way to Puri, it received a grand welcome from the Congress unit of Satyabadi.
At Satyabadi College Square, over a hundred Congress workers, under the leadership of former Pradesh Congress President Prasad Harichandan, assembled to greet the Tulasi Yatra with devotional chants and slogans of “Haribol,” celebrating its journey to Lord Jagannath.
The collected Tulasi leaves were later carried in a grand procession from Satyabadi to Puri on foot and were offered to Lord Jagannath at the Shrimandir.
Today’s yatra was also a reminder of Congress’s six-point demand to the government. These demands include the opening of all four gates of the Shrimandir to devotees, auditing and repairing of the Ratna Bhandar (treasure chamber), returning the Amrutmanohi land owned by Vedanta authorities, and providing land to landless servitors. Congress had staged multiple protests on these issues earlier. Despite repeated warnings and protests by Congress, the state government has remained adamant in its stance. As a result of the continued closure of three temple gates, devotees face significant difficulties, often standing in long queues for hours, and some have even fainted due to exhaustion.
Congress has declared that the movement will continue until the six-point demands are fulfilled. Aspirations and enthusiasm regarding the Shrimandir have been growing both now and in the past, and Congress has vowed to continue its struggle for the opening of all four gates, auditing of the Ratna Bhandar, and ensuring various rights connected to the temple.
This was reiterated by the former MLA of Satyabadi.
