The BJP that is making attempts to replace formidable Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with its candidate in the present assembly elections in Odisha, was pushed into an embarrassing situation after its high- profile spokesperson Sambit Patra, who is contesting as BJP candidate from Puri Lok Sabha seat, courted a controversy.
He landed in a row on Monday after his remark with a local news channel that the state’s most revered deity Lord Jagannath is a “devotee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. As it hurt the sentiments of the people of the state, a day after he resorted to corrective steps by describing it as a “slip of the tongue”.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik had politely lamented him for hurting Odia `asmita’ (pride) appealed to the BJP to keep Lord Jagannath above the political discourse.Expressing outrage, Patnaik, in an X post, said:
“Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha is the Lord of the Universe. Calling Mahaprabhu a ‘bhakt’ of another human being is an insult to the Lord… it is totally condemnable. This has hurt the sentiments and demeaned the faith of crores of Jagannatha bhaktas and Odias across the world”.
“The Lord is the greatest symbol of Odia asmita. I strongly denounce the statement… and I appeal to the BJP to keep the Lord above any political discourse. By this, you have deeply hurt Odia asmita and this will be remembered and condemned by people of Odisha for a very long time,” he said.
Patra, who faced flak for his statement, was forced to clarify that it was a slip of tongue and he wanted to mean that the PM was an ardent ‘bhakt’ (devotee) of Lord Jagannath and not the other way round. Further, he said that he was apologetic for his ‘slip of the tongue’, and that he would observe fast for the next three days to offer penance in the name of Lord Jagannath as an apology.
Patra shared a video on social media platform X around 1 am, apologizing for his mistake regarding Lord Jagannath. He wrote, “Today, I am deeply distressed by the mistake I made regarding Lord Jagannath. I bow my head at the feet of Lord Jagannath and apologise. To atone for my error and repentance, I will observe a fast for the next three days.”
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the statement of the BJP candidate. “I strongly condemn this statement of the BJP. They have started thinking that they are above God. This is a height of arrogance. Calling God bhakt of Modi ji is an insult to God,” he posted on X.
