Sambit Patra
National Spokesperson Bharatiya Janata Party
Assumed office
2014
Chairman of India Tourism Development Corporation
Assumed office
30 November 2021
Personal details
Born (1974-12-13) 13 December 1974
Bokaro, Bihar (now Jharkhand), India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Surgeon
  • politician

Sambit Patra (born 13 December 1974) is an Indian politician and surgeon who has served as the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014 and currently serving as a chairman in tourism department.[3] Patra had his first job at Hindu Rao Hospital. He was appointed an independent director[4] of the board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) in 2017.[5][6] On 30 November 2021, Patra was appointed Chairman of the India Tourism Development Corporation.[7]

Early life

Patra was born in an Odia family[8] to Rabindra Nath Patra on 13 December 1974 in Bokaro Steel City, then part of Dhanbad district of the state of Bihar, which is now a part of Bokaro district of Jharkhand.[9][10] His father worked in the Bokaro Steel Plant. He did his primary and intermediate schooling in Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Bokaro.[10] He did his MBBS from Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Burla, Sambalpur, Odisha in 1997 and his Master of Surgery (MS) in General Surgery from Shri Ramachandra Bhanj Medical College, Cuttack, Utkal University in 2002.[10][6]

Patra had qualified Combined Medical Services Examination conducted by the UPSC in 2003 and joined Hindu Rao Hospital as a medical officer.[1]

Political career

Patra's political career started in 2010 when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a spokesperson for its Delhi unit. In 2012, Patra lost the municipal election as the BJP's candidate from Delhi's Kashmiri Gate[11] and at the same time resigned from his job to pursue politics full-time. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Patra campaigned for the BJP and gained visibility on national television. When the BJP came to power, Patra became its national spokesperson.[12][13] In 2017, Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed him as a non-official director of ONGC.[14]

Patra contested the Puri Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 Indian general election, and lost to sitting Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member Pinaki Misra by 11,700 votes or 1.03% margin.[15]

Controversies

In September 2017, Patra was appointed an independent/Non-Official Director (NOD) of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) Board for a renewable term of three years. Him being an active member and official spokesperson of the ruling party (BJP) was viewed as a violation of the companies act and subsequently challenged in the Delhi High Court by Energy Watchdog (NGO). The petition also alleged the entire selection process to be "flawed".[16][17][18] In November 2017, The Delhi High Court dismissed the PIL on grounds of it being "Unsubstantiated" and "Without Merit". The court also stated that questioning Patra's independence to discharge his official duties as an independent director merely on his association with the ruling party (BJP) would be "Highly Inappropriate".[19][20] Later, the Supreme Court asked the NGO who filed the PIL to "Serve a copy to the Union of India". The SC Bench posted the matter for a later date and mentioned "After hearing preliminary arguments, we can issue formal notice."[21]

In February 2020, Patra tweeted a fake video of ex-INC MLA Naseem Khan chanting 'Pakistan Zindabad', which made the latter file a police complaint against Patra in Mumbai.[22][23] On 18 May, a tweet by Patra, which included pictures of a document "toolkit" containing social media measures allegedly used by the Congress to hurt Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, was flagged by Twitter as manipulated media.[24] This decision by Twitter was possibly in response to the Congress lodging a complaint with Twitter's California headquarters to suspend accounts for prominent BJP leaders for allegedly "spreading misinformation and unrest in the society".[25] The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology responded with a letter to Twitter alleging unilateral, arbitrary and politically biased decision on Twitter's part in passing judgement on Patra's case, which was under investigation.[25]

Patra was among two doctors under the Delhi Medical Council scanner for alleged negligence in post-operative care. The complaint dated 1 August 2014 is “under consideration”, according to the council's website.[26]

On 12 August 2020, during a heated TV debate with Indian National Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi, Patra aggressively yelled and referred to him as "Jaichand", and a false Hindu who appears wearing a Tilak. The spokesperson of Congress party, suffered a heart attack just after the debate was over. He was rushed to the hospital, but after some time of treatment, was declared dead. The congress party alleged, that the aggressive methods of the modern debating methods are the reason Rajiv Tyagi died. Many in the twitter had even lashed and declared Patra as a murderer.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 "Sambit Patra, furious over the question of being made the chairman of ITDC, said - now the thesis will ask the qualification of UPSC people?". Aaj Tak. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Sambit Patra turns 46: Tracing the political journey of BJP spokesperson". Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. ↑ Administrator. "National Office Bearers". www.bjp.org. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  4. ↑ Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. "ONGC - Board of Directors". www.ongcindia.com. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Sambit Patra to be up for reappointment on ONGC board". thehindubusinessline.com. Business Line. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2020. Patra was appointed as an Independent Director on the ONGC board on October 28 last year.
  6. 1 2 "Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC:Natl India)". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "Sambit Patra appointed as Chairman of ITDC". The Hindu. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  8. ↑ @sambitswaraj (13 May 2014). "Yes I am an Oriya :)) "@vivek5677: @sambitswaraj sir u r an oriya.orissa desperately need a leader/good orator like u."" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 October 2020 – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ "Sambit Patra(Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)):Constituency- PURI(ODISHA) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 "जानें क्‍या है भाजपा प्रवक्‍ता संबित पात्रा का धनबाद कनेक्‍शन, टिकट के दावेदारों में उछला नाम". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). 10 February 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  11. ↑ "Ward Wise Result Sheet MCD General Election -2012 Total Votes Polled" (PDF). webcache.googleusercontent.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  12. ↑ Saini, Shivam (26 December 2015). "Is Sambit Patra helping BJP's image?". Business Standard India. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  13. ↑ Bamzai, Kaveree (22 December 2018). "The journey of BJP's Sambit Patra from a trained surgeon to a nasty TV star". ThePrint. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  14. ↑ Press Trust of India (30 September 2017). "BJP's Sambit Patra appointed to ONGC board". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  15. ↑ "Puri election result: Sambit Patra loses a close fight with Pinaki Misra". The Economic Times. TNN. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  16. ↑ Indian, The Logical (7 March 2018). "Sambit Patra Appointed As Independent Director Of ONGC, Supreme Court Asks Centre Why". thelogicalindian.com. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "BJP's Sambit Patra appointed to ONGC board". Hindustan Times. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  18. ↑ "Sambit Patra's appointment to ONGC Board challenged in High Court". The Economic Times. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  19. ↑ "Relief to Sambit Patra:HC rejected PIL against his appointment as ONGC director". India Whispers. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "HC rejects PIL challenging Sambit Patra's appointment in ONGC". The Economic Times. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  21. ↑ "SC to hear Centre's reply to plea challenging BJP leader Sambit Patra's appointment to ONGC board". Scroll.in. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  22. ↑ Grewal, Kairvy (7 February 2020). "Sambit Patra shares fake video of ex-Congress MLA & asks followers to fact-check it". Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  23. ↑ "'Stop editing videos': Twitter slams Sambit Patra for sharing Cong leader's fake 'Pakistan Zindabad' video". Free Press Journal. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  24. ↑ "Twitter flags Sambit Patra's tweet on Congress 'toolkit' as manipulated media". The Hindu. 21 May 2021 – via www.thehindu.com.
  25. 1 2 Arnimesh, Shanker (22 May 2021). "Ministry warning to Twitter over Sambit Patra 'toolkit' tweet was sent after BJP sought action". ThePrint. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  26. ↑ Venugopal, Vasudha (1 April 2016). "BJP spokesman Sambit Patra under Delhi Medical Council lens for negligence in post-operative care". Economic Times. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  27. ↑ "Congress spokesman Rajiv Tyagi dies soon after TV debate". The Times of India. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
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