Hermit Sambit Patra loses Puri seat to BJD’s Pinaki Mishra

Dr Sambit Patra of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the Puri Lok Sabha seat to Biju Janata Dal (BJD)’s Pinaki Mishra after putting up a tough fight.

Mishra won by a thin margin of 11,700 votes.

Dr Patra who was a doctor by profession had practiced medicine at Hindu Rao Hospital in Delhi. His first tryst with politics was municipal elections in Delhi’s Kashmere Gate. Though he lost in 2012, he had risen to the ranks to become Delhi’s BJP spokesperson.

The Hermit

Patra’s campaign was full of drama and colour as he vowed to live the life of hermit during the campaign. He has been trying to dethrone the existing ‘super-rich’ MP Mishra, using his own childhood poverty card to resonate with the voters. He also formed a manifesto to help the ‘ignored’ poor.

He also put in a lot of star power into the campaign. He managed to rope in BJP President Amit Shah and Union Minister Rajnath Singh to conduct rallies in the pilgrimage city of Puri.

Lord’s Idol

Patra’s saffron attire and campaign did not go down well with the opposition. One of his spectacular moves was carrying an idol of Lord Jagannath along while seeking votes. Congress party had complained the election commission. And, other temple staff was not too thrilled either.

However, the move regarding Patra which raised the most eyebrows was his appointment to Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) as an independent director. A case was also filed in courts regarding his employment into a government owned entity even as he held the role of BJP spokesperson.