Sambit Patra, The BJP National Spokesperson To Run Election From Puri ConstituencySambit Patra, the BJP national spokesperson had grabbed the headlines for many famous, and infamous reasons whether it is for uploading a fake video of opposition leaders, tweeting manipulated media, or raising the temperature during heated debates. The ruling party has nominated him from the Puri Lok Sabha constituency for the 18th Lok Sabha elections. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) fielded Arup Patnaik and Congress chose Sucharita Mohanty to fight against Patra from Puri. The Puri Lok Sabha constituency will go to the polls on May 25, 2024 (phase 6).
Sambit Patra, a surgeon turned politician, has been serving as the national spokesperson of the BJP since 2014. Patra started his political career with the BJP in 2010. He could not taste political success yet as he lost the Delhi municipal elections back in 2012 and the Lok Sabha elections in Puri in 2019. BJP appointed him as the Non-official Director (NOD) of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) Board however his appointment was challenged in the Delhi High Court being flawed.
He had been part of many controversial issues while targeting opposition leaders and parties. His 2020 fake tweet of ex-INC MLA Naseem Khan chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ did not go well as Khan filed a police complaint against Sambit Patra. The heated and aggressive debate which was followed by the heart attack and death of Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi brought lash from both political circles and the public.
Puri Lok Sabha constituency
Puri Lok Sabha constituency is comprised of 7 assembly regions including Puri, Brahmagiri, Satyabadi, Pipili, Chilika, Ranpur, and Nayagarh. Five out of 7 assembly seats were won by the BJD in the last assembly elections and 2 were won by the BJP. Since 1998, the parliament seat has been won by the BJD candidate.
In 2019, the BJD candidate Pinaki Misra won the Puri constituency with a margin of 11714 votes. Pinki Misra has won three consecutive parliamentary elections from the Puri constituency.
In the last general elections, the BJD candidate won elections with 47.40 % of votes whereas Sambit Patra received 46.37% of votes. BJP has registered a significant improvement in the vote share in the Puri constituency by a remarkable 25.61 % growth in comparison to the 2014 elections.
Puri Lok Sabha constituency is a general category parliament seat. The seat comprises part of Khurda district, part of Nayagarh district, and part of Puri district. The literacy rate is high in the constituency with 74.99% population being literate. The SC, ST, and Muslim populations in the constituency are 16.86%, 2.7%, and 2.6% respectively.
The Lok Sabha election result 2024 will be announced on June 4, 2024.