FOR PURI resident Gauranga Suara, 58, the recent “slip of tongue” by BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra on Lord Jagannath can never be an election issue even though he is upset over Patra's remark. “It’s good that he (Patra) realised his mistake and apologised, which he should have done immediately. But it’s not that I will not vote for Patra because of his remark. My vote for BJP is because of Narendra Modi, whom I want to be the Prime Minister of India for a third time,” said Suara. But not everyone is convinced with Patra’s apology and his decision to fast for three days “as an act of penance” for his “mistake”. Umakant Behera, a native of Srimukundapur village under Satyabadi Assembly segment that falls under the Puri Lok Sabha seat, said “politicians should be careful while making public statements”. “I don’t know if it was a slip of tongue or a deliberate comment. But such statements definitely hurt us. It’s an insult to our Lord. How can someone call Mahaprabhu a devotee of a human being, whoever he/she may be,” said Behera. On May 20, Patra, who joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a roadshow on Badadanda (Grand Road) in Puri, told a local television channel “Lord Jagannath is (PM) Modi’s bhakt”, leading to nationwide outrage. Realising the sensitivity of the issue, he later apologised for the “slip of tongue”. Lord Jagannath is revered across Odisha, which has a nearly 90% Hindu population, and Puri is where the famous Shri Jagannath Temple is located. Patra, the television face of the BJP in New Delhi, had tried his luck from Puri in 2019 Lok Sabha polls too, but lost to BJD’s Pinaki Misra by a thin margin of 11,714 votes. This time, he is contesting against BJD nominee and former Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik, a resident of Puri district. Puri goes to polls in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday. Bipolar contest It's almost a bipolar battle in Puri as Congress’s first candidate, Sucharita Mohanty, returned the party ticket citing lack of funds, and her replacement, Jayanarayan Pattanayak, seems set for a token contest. The Congress’s vote share in the Puri Lok Sabha seat, which was 17.06% in 2009 and 18.5% in 2014, was reduced to 3.94% in the 2019 elections. The BJD, which had been winning the Puri Lok Sabha seat consecutively since 1998, faced the first close contest in 2019, when the BJP threw the surgeon-turned-politician Patra into the poll ring. Despite the BJP not having much organisational presence in Puri in 2019 and Patra’s candidature only a month before the polls, his propensity to constantly remain in the news with eye-catching tactics resulted in a nail-biting victory for Pinaki Misra. A well- known lawyer and three-time MP from Puri, Misra, had maintained a margin of 2.11 lakh votes in 2009 and 2.63 lakh in 2014. The BJD, however, denied a ticket to Mishra this time. Perceived to be a 'Delhi neta' when his ticket was first announced from Puri, Patra was successful in connecting with people through his antics. He grabbed eyeballs with efforts like wearing traditional dhoti-kurta and a saffron gamcha thrown across his shoulders, dropping in for meals at homes of his constituents, spending nights at houses of voters and bathing in ponds to the chant of mantras. Though Patra has given a break to his antics, he recently shared a video in which he was seen singing during a public meeting attended by Telugu voters in Puri town. Patra's efforts and the BJP's growing popularity had helped the party win two Assembly segments — Puri and Brahmagiri — under the Puri Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and cementing the BJP’s position in other five Assembly segments. Despite having lost the seat in 2019, Patra continued visiting different Assembly segments under the constituency, which may bolster his prospects this time. Last month, he even released a report card on the development works he has undertaken in Puri in the last five years. What could also help Patra in Puri this time is the people’s call for a change. “We had been voting for Pinaki Babu since 2009 but we never saw him in our locality after completion of polls. New people should get a chance from the seat this time,” said Sridhar Mangaraj, a resident of Delanga under Pipli Assembly segment. Besides PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, UP CM Yogi Adityanath and other senior BJP leaders have campaigned for Patra. BJD's strengths With the change of candidate, which could help the BJD cut the anger against the incumbent MP, the ruling party in Odisha is hopeful of continuing its winning streak in Puri constituency. Arup Patnaik, who was into social service, helping cancer patients from Odisha in Mumbai after his IPS job, forayed into electoral politics in 2019 from Bhubaneswar seat and lost to BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi, a former IAS officer, by 23,839 votes. Patnaik has been banking on factors like his “son of the soil” identity, the massive organisational strength of the BJD in Puri, the Odisha government’s work for the Puri Jagannath temple, women votes and beneficiaries of welfare schemes to ensure his victory from the constituency. Describing the former IPS officer as a “good man” and a “social worker”, BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a video message said Arup Patnaik will work round-the-clock to make Puri an international heritage destination by brining projects like metro and international airport to the city. Patnaik and his close aide V K Pandian have campaigned for the Puri nominee.
