Embroiled in a controversy over his “slip of the tongue” on Lord Jagannath, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party’s Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra apologised and announced to undertake a penance by observing fast for three days from Tuesday after being criticised from different quarters.
Patra while giving bytes to television channels on Monday, had said that the state’s most revered deity “Lord Jagannath is a devotee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi." Patra, however, later clarified that it was a slip of the tongue and he wanted to mean that the PM was an ardent ‘bhakt’ (devotee) of Lord Jagannath and not the other.
Taking to X, Patra said: “……For this mistake, I apologise at the feet of Lord Sri Jagannath. I will fast for the next three days to atone for this mistake.”
Patra also said that on the occasion of Modi's roadshow in Puri on Monday. He had conversations with many media. While talking to media, instead of saying ‘Maha Prabhu Sri Jagannath’s Bhakti Modi’, he mistakenly pronounced ‘Modi’s Bhakti Jagannath”.
The issue was aggravated when Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik strongly condemned Patra’s statement and appealed to the BJP to keep Lord Jagannath above the political discourse.
Patnaik, in an X post, criticised Patra for hurting Odia ‘asmita’ (pride).
“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.
Apart from him, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Trinamool Congress leaders also condemned Patra’s statement on platform X.
Meanwhile, Congress candidate from Puri Lok Sabha seat Jayanarayan Patnaik also lodged a complaint against Patra with the Town police station in Puri.
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