Naveen Patnaik slams Sambit Patra's comment on Lord Jagannath; latter says 'let's not make...'

BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Puri, Sambit Patra, caused significant controversy by referring to Lord Jagannath, a revered deity in Odisha, as an ardent 'bhakt' (devotee) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This statement was met with strong condemnation from Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who deemed it an insult to Lord Jagannath and offensive to the sentiments of millions of devotees.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Patnaik said, "Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha is the Lord of Universe. Calling Mahaprabhu a bhakt of another human being is an insult to the Lord. This has hurt the sentiments and demeaned the faith of crores of Jagannatha bhaktas and Odias across the world. The Lord is the greatest Symbol of Odia Asmita. Calling Mahaprabhu a bhakt of another human being is totally condemnable. I strongly denounce the statement made by the BJP Puri Lok Sabha candidate and I appeal to the BJP to keep the Lord above any political discourse. By this you have deeply hurt Odia Asmita and this will be remembered and condemned by people of Odisha for a very long time."

Soon after Patra landed in the row, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also criticised BJP MP's remarks, calling it an example of extreme arrogance and a grave insult to the deity. Kejriwal reiterated that calling God a devotee of Modi was inappropriate and offensive​

Subsequently, in response to the backlash, Patra, in a post on X, clarified his stance and asserted that it was a 'slip of the tongue' and urged not to blow the issue out of proportion. He acknowledged the mistake in his social media post, explaining that he intended to convey that Modi is a devotee of Lord Jagannath and inadvertently reversed the statement​.

Patra wrote, "Naveen Ji Namaskar! I gave number of bytes today to multiple media channels after the massive success of Shri Narendra Modiji’s Road Show in Puri today, everywhere I mentioned that Modi ji is an ardent “Bhakt” of Shri Jagannath Mahaprabhu ..by mistake during one of the bytes I pronounced just the opposite ..I know you too know and understand this ..Sir let’s not make an issue out of a nonexistent issue ..we all have “slip of tongue sometimes.."