In Puri, it's BJD pinning hopes on temple; BJP on PM Modi, Sambit Patra's connect
Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Puri after offering prayers at the Lord Jagannath temple. Later in the day, BJP candidate Sambit Patra in a media interview said Lord Jagannath is a devotee of PM Modi. This was enough for Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal to pick it up and make it a poll issue.
Patra later apologised for his «slip of tongue» and announced to hold a fast for three days as atonement for the sin he committed. On Wednesday, the party published a full-page ad in all leading newspapers of Bhubaneshwar and Puri with a written apology letter by Patra.
Lord Jagannath is revered across the state and if it becomes an issue, then Patra will face the heat in Puri. However, an opponent like Arup Patnaik of the BJD is providing comfort to the BJP there. A former Mumbai police commissioner, Patnaik lost in 2019 from the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency and this time shifted to Puri.
In 2019, it was a close battle in Puri with BJD candidate Pinaki Mishra winning over Sambit Patra by 11,700 votes. It is this margin that has led the BJP to believe that it can win this seat. Out of the seven assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency, the BJD won five and the BJP got the remaining two, including the Puri assembly seat where the temple is situated, in the simultaneously held assembly polls.
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