Bhubaneswar: Governing BJD today moved to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) seeking action against BJP’s Puri MP candidate Sambit Patra for using a photo of Lord Jagannath temple in an advertisement issued by him in the local media.
In a petition to the CEC Rajiv Kumar, the BJD highlighted that the full-page advertisement featuring Dr.Patra’s picture with Sri Jagannath Temple in the background also had the BJP’s lotus symbol.
The BJD also noted that Dr.Patra had made an offensive comment stating that “Lord Jagannath is the devotee of Modi,” which severely affected the sentiments of millions of Odias worldwide.
Although Dr.Patra later clarified that his remark was inadvertently made and expressed regret, the BJD urged that the advertisement violated the Model Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates.
“But the issue here is issuing a full page advertisement with his photo and the temple in the background along with a party symbol. We strongly object to it and consider this to be a violation of the poll code for political parties and candidates,” the BJD said in its petition.
The party demanded that immediate action be taken against Dr.Patra, with a formal notice issued and made public. They also argued that since Dr.Patra’s picture appeared in the advertisement, the expenditure should be accounted for under his personal campaign expenses, not the party’s.
The BJD estimated the total cost of the advertisement at around Rs 2.5 crore. They also noted that expenses for the Prime Minister’s roadshow in support of Dr.Patra have not been allocated to his campaign expenses account. The BJD urged the EC to ensure that all related expenses be appropriately recorded in Patra’s expense account.