Odisha: Sambit Patra loses to BJD's Pinaki Misra from Puri

BHUBANESWAR: BJP candidate from Puri, Sambit Patra has lost Lok Sabha elections by over 11,000 votes to BJD's Pinaki Misra.
The battle for Puri had never been this exciting. Right from the suspense surrounding the nomination of candidates to the high-decibel election campaign, the home of Lord Jagannath had grabbed national attention. And this did not end on Thursday, with election results pointing to a see-saw battle between BJP's Sambit Patra and BJD's sitting MP Pinaki Mishra.
Amid speculations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be contesting from this temple town, BJP had fielded Sambit, the party's national spokesperson and a familiar face on television.
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He was up against Pinaki, a three-time MP from Puri and Supreme Court lawyer.
Labelled as an 'outsider' by political opponents, Sambit, a surgeon by profession, had tried to prove naysayers wrong by spending his days interacting with the villagers in his constituency, taking bath in local ponds and breaking bread with locals in the run-up to the elections.
The question that many had asked then was will he manage to help BJP, which had won only one LS seat in Odisha in 2014, better its tally?
Prior to the counting of votes, BJP spokesperson Sameer Mohanty had said, "We are confident of a win. Sambit will win in Puri with a huge margin thanks to the Modi wave in the state, the frequent visits of party president Amit Shah, the efforts of Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the tireless work of the booth-level workers."
However, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra had sounded a note of caution. "BJD will win the Puri parliamentary seat and the seven assembly seats that come under it," Sasmit said. Asked about Pinaki, he had said, "He is a respected parliamentarian and has done a lot of good work for Puri. This will reflect in the final results." It seems that's what is holding him in good stead.