Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Puri Lok Sabha seat candidate Sambit Patra has been embroiled in a controversy after he told a news channel in Odisha that "Lord Jagannath is a devotee (bhakt) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi." His statement has sparked a political row, Patra later said it was a “slip" of the tongue.

"Today, a statement made by me had created a controversy. After PM Narendra Modi's roadshow in Puri, I gave byte to many media channels and everywhere I said the same thing, that PM Narendra Modi is an ardent devotee of Mahaprabhu Jagannath... In the end, when another channel took my byte, it was extremely hot, crowded and noisy. Unknowingly, while giving the byte, I said the opposite, that Mahaprabhu is a devotee of PM Narendra Modi. This can never be true, and a person in his senses can never say such things that god is a devotee of a human. I have made this mistake unintentionally. I know some people must have been hurt but even god forgives mistakes made unintentionally... I need to seek forgiveness from Mahaprabhu Jagannath for this slip of the tongue and I have decided to do a 'upvaas'," Patra said in his post on X.