Patra's 'Jagannath' remark has hurt faith of millions: TMC's Sagarika Ghose

New Delhi: The 'Lord Jagannath' remark made by BJP's Puri candidate Sambit Patra has hurt the faith of millions of people, Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghose said on Wednesday, as she accused the ruling party of using religion for political gains.

Patra on Monday had said that Odisha's most revered deity "Lord Jagannath is a devotee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi". He, however, later clarified that it was a slip of the tongue and he wanted to mean that the prime minister was an ardent 'bhakt' (devotee) of Lord Jagannath.

"Nothing reveals the egoism of the BJP and Narendra Modi than those in the BJP who are comparing Narendra Modi to God. The BJP candidate from Puri, Sambit Patra, said that Lord Jagannath is a devotee of Modi, he is a "bhakt" of Modi. Now what can be more egoistical than this?" Ghose said.

"The BJP is insulting the faith of millions of people who worship Lord Jagannath by saying Lord himself is a devotee of a politician. What kind of politics is the BJP trying to do? This is the politics of devotion, the politics of bhakti?" "...As Ambedkar said, the politics of bhakti leads to degradation," she told PTI.

Ghose said this is not the first time the BJP has compared PM Modi with god.

"This is not the first time a BJP person has said that Modi is akin to God. There have been other instances with BJP leaders saying that Modi is like Lord Krishna. During the Ram Temple ceremony, there was a photograph of Modi leading the Lord into the temple.

"So this kind of egoism on the part of the BJP and on the part of Narendra Modi is kind of trying to be a divine figure, trying to aspire to divinity, trying to have a kind of divine aura, trying to deify Narendra Modi almost as if he is a god," Ghose said.

The TMC leader said that this kind of politics is "shocking".

"It shows the manner in which the BJP is insulting the faith of millions and it also shows that the BJP has lost all track of reality," she said.

She added that the BJP is trying to use religion to achieve its political ends.

"The Ram Mandir is a matter of faith for millions. They hold the Ram Mandir to be a holy shrine. But the manner in which the BJP is trying to use religion for politics, asking for votes in the name of religion and appealing to people on the basis of religion, it wants to create religious divides. This is the worst form of exploiting the faith of millions for a political end," Ghose said.

Patra, who came under attack for his remarks, had later clarified that it was a slip of the tongue and he wanted to say that the prime minister was an ardent 'bhakt' (devotee) of Lord Jagannath. He also apologised later and announced he will undertake penance by observing fast for three days from Tuesday.