Bhubaneswar: The issue of the missing key of Puri Jagannath temple's ratna bhandar (treasury) has not only provided the BJP with ammunition against the Naveen Patnaik government but has also given it an opportunity to strike an emotional chord with the people ahead of the general elections.

The party, which launched a state-wide agitation on Monday demanding that the key be traced immediately, also questioned the silence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik over the issue.

BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said Naveen should clarify whether the key has gone missing or has been misplaced deliberately.

As party workers staged demonstration across the state over the issue and submitted memorandums to the governor through sub-collectors demanding steps to trace the temple treasury key, Acharya also trained his guns at the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration which had decided to transfer 14kg of gold and 18kg silver from the temple treasury to a State Bank of India locker. He described the decision to keep ornaments received as gifts for the temple outside the ratna bhandar as "completely illegal" and an act that violates of Jagannath Temple Rules, 1960.

BJP national secretary Suresh Pujari said the issue was sensitive as Lord Jagannath was the presiding deity of the state.

BJD leaders, however, dismissed BJP's charges on the missing key issue. Puri MP Pinaki Mishra decried attempts to politicise the issue saying that chief minister's name was being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy.

With additional reporting by Lalmohan Patnaik in Cuttack