Following outrage over his remark that “Lord Jagannath is Modi’s bhakt”, which he later clarified was a “slip of the tongue”, BJP’s Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra has Tuesday apologised and stated he would preserve a quick for 3 days.
In a video message posted on X, Patra stated, “There was an enormous roadshow of PM Narendra Modi on Sunday morning. It was a grand success. I used to be interviewed by a number of media channels after the roadshow. I’ve instructed everybody that Narendra Modi is an ardent bhakt of Lord Jagannath and that he drastically reveres Mahaprabhu Jagannath.”
It was by mistake, Patra stated, that to 1 TV channel, he stated simply the other. “I stated that Jagannath Modinka Bhakta (Lord Jagannaath is Modi’s bhakt). It’s a grave mistake, however there was no such thought in my coronary heart. I search forgiveness for this. We will’t even damage Mahaprabhu unknowingly, and may’t say one thing like this about him,” stated Patra.
“Since I mistakenly made this comment, I search apology at his toes. I’ve determined to watch a quick as a part of the apology,” the BJP chief stated.
Lord Jagannath is revered throughout Odisha, which has an almost 90 per cent Hindu inhabitants, and Puri is the place the well-known Shri Jagannath Temple is positioned. The Puri Lok Sabha constituency goes to the polls on Could 25.
On Monday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had condemned Patra’s comment. “Calling Mahaprabhu (Lord Jagannath) a bhakt of a human being is an insult to the Lord,” he stated in a submit on X.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had additionally criticised the BJP over the problem.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has stated the comment “reinforces our cost that the BJP, drunk with energy, won’t even spare our Gods, not to mention India’s individuals”.
The youth wing of the Congress has additionally staged protests in opposition to Patra’s remarks in Bhubaneswar and accused Patra of violating the Election Fee’s Mannequin Code of Conduct.