By PTI
Embroiled in a controversy over his “slip of the tongue” on Lord Jagannath, BJP 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.
Mr. Patra while giving bytes to television channels on Monday, May 20, had said that the State’s most revered deity “Lord Jagannath is a devotee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. 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, Mr. 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.” Mr. Patra also said that on the occasion of PM 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 Mr. Patra’s statement and appealed to the BJP to keep Lord Jagannath above the political discourse.
This story was originally published in thehindu.com. Read the full story here.
