Now, Suvendu Adhikari finds anti-Hindu conspiracy in Bengal Jagannath temple manhole covers

BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari has claimed that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee got manhole convers for the Digha Jagannath temple complex specially customized with the word, Jagannath, written on them to hurt and defile Hindu sentiments. 

Adhikari made a Facebook post on this matter. (embedded below)

The video in his post captures the Jagannath temple and then focuses on an iron manhole cover which has the word, Jagannath, written on it. The caption, when translated into English, reads,

“These days, the honorable person (Mamata Banerjee) is announcing various initiatives to erase the ‘anti-Hindu’ label; sometimes she is talking about building a fort in Newtown; sometimes she is talking about building a Mahakal temple in Siliguri. All of them are at government expense and under government control. Just like the ‘Digha Jagannath Cultural Center’ under Hidco. In her words, ‘Jagannath Dham’! But, she does not say in his words, ‘Just as coal does not remove dirt, similarly human nature never changes’. No matter how much you announce building a temple, it is proven again that you have not changed and that it is not possible for you to change. You still prioritize how to humiliate Sanatani sentiments in order to satisfy your vote bank.

The manhole cover of the sewer that is used to discharge polluted and unclean water at the ‘Digha Jagannath Cultural Center’ has the word ‘Jagannath’ written in English!!! Starting from tourists, sanitation workers, and police personnel, everyone is trampling on it while walking and coming back!

It’s not their fault, they can’t understand, it’s your government’s fault, which has taken over the entire revenue from there for their own pocket. These covers are made in a customized manner as per your order, because no manhole cover with this name is available in the market.

So if you want to erase the ‘anti-Hindu’ label, first try to improve yourself, practice understanding Sanatani culture and customs for a few months, and then talk big.

And order the manhole covers of these sewers to be replaced as soon as possible.

Forgive me, Lord.” 

The post garnered around 260,000 views. It has been shared over 1,000 times. 

Fact Check

Since the word “Jagannath” appears on the manhole cover, we conducted a relevant keyword search that led us to the website of a company based in Howrah, West Bengal, named Shree Jagannath Iron Foundry Private Limited.

In the gallery depicting its range of products, we found the photo of the same manhole cover. It has the word, Jagannath, written on it. See below:

Here is a comparison:

There are manhole covers of other designs as well that feature the word, Jagannath, on them. 

This shows that the specific covers used in the Jagannath temple complex were not custom made.

We called up the number given on the website and an executive of the company confirmed to Alt News that the manhole covers installed in the Digha Jagannath Culture Center were provided by their company. He said, “Yes, the manhole covers of Digha’s Jagannath temple are our products. “Jagannath” is written on it because that’s the name of our organization.”

To sum up, Suvendu Adhiraki’s claim that the manhole covers with Jagannath inscribed on them are custom-made by Mamata Banerjee to insult Hindus is false and baseless. The name ‘Jagannath’ refers to the name of the company, Shree Jagannath Iron Foundry Private Limited, which manufactured the manhole covers.