Bhubaeswar: It seems that Sambit Patra and his preposterous deeds are just two sides of the same coin. The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party has once again proved that he does not even care for upholding the holiness of Lord Jagannath.
While he used the Lord’s idol while campaigning in Puri during the 2019 general elections, this time he used wrong words while singing the Jagannath Ashtakam on the eve of Ratha Yatra. The silly and perpetrated mistake seems to have been deliberately made to stay in the limelight. Last Sunday, Sambit along with singer Kailash Kher sang Jagannatha Ashtakam and posted a video in youtube. The song was released by none other than the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. While the song has attracted wide viewership, Sambit is seen wrongly singling the Ashtakam. With this, Sambit has shared the wrong Jagannath Ashtakam to the people all over the world.
While the publicity monger spokesperson has been successful in his fresh attempt to come to the light, it has shocked Jagannath disciples a lot. In the first sentence itself, Sambit sings the Ashtakam as “Kadachit kalindi tata bipina sangeeta taralo” – instead of “Kadachit kalindi tata bipina sangeeta karabo”. It seems to have been done intentionally as padmashri Kailash Kher and many other senior people were involved in the making of the music video. How can nobody identify that the lyrics are wrong. Sambit, who calls himself a big devotee of Lord Jagannath is always seen wearing a religious attire and tilak. So, questions are being raised on how he could sing a wrong Ashtakam of the Lord.
While the song has viralled from mobile to mobile, especially among the BJP politicians and workers of Odisha, it would be difficult to undo the mistake. According to Jagannath culture experts, this is a big insult to Lord Jagannath. He should not have used the Lord for such cheap publicity. It is also an insult to the whole Odia community. Being an Odia and insulting the presiding deity cannot be tolerated.
Reacting on the issue, Maheswar Biswal of Cuttack says that, “Sambit should immediately issue an apology for his mistake and hurting the sentiments of millions of people. The party should also take action against Sambit for his regular mischiefs.”
“Sambit Patra has the habit of misleading the people of the country through television debates. This time he used the music album to highlight himself. But wrongly singing the Jagannath Ashtakam has broken all records. His insecurity is behind all these misadventures,” say a well known political analyst who did not want to be named.
This is not the first time that Sambit has made attracted the criticism. He is a regular publicity monger and does periodic spoofs to keep himself in the limelight. Recently, he was flagged by Twitter due to posting of wrong information on toolkit. His television debates have become more popular than the soap operas of some of the Hindi entertainment channels. The fresh issue has outraged the common Odia man and Jagannath follower. He should immediately issue a public apologies to set the record straight.