Sambit Patra

Early life and education

Patra was born in an Odia family 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. His father worked in the Bokaro Steel Plant. He did his primary and intermediate schooling in Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Bokaro. He did his MBBS from Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Sambalpur in 1997 and his Master of Surgery (MS) in General Surgery from Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack in 2002.

Patra had qualified Combined Medical Services Examination which is conducted by the UPSC with an All India Rank of 19 in 2003 and joined Hindu Rao Hospital as a medical officer.

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 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. In 2017, Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed him as a non-official director of ONGC.

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.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Patra again contesting from Puri, defeated Arup Patnaik of Biju Janata Dal by a margin of 104,709.

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". 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". 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."

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. 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. 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". 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.

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.

References

References

1. (3 December 2021). "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.
2. "Sambit Patra turns 46: Tracing the political journey of BJP spokesperson".
3. Administrator. "National Office Bearers".
4. Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. "ONGC - Board of Directors".
5. (25 January 2019). "Sambit Patra to be up for reappointment on ONGC board". Business Line.
6. "Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC:Natl India)". Bloomberg.
7. (2 December 2021). "Sambit Patra appointed as Chairman of ITDC". The Hindu.
8. (13 May 2014). "Yes I am an Oriya :)) "@vivek5677: @sambitswaraj sir u r an oriya.orissa desperately need a leader/good orator like u."".
9. "Sambit Patra(Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)):Constituency- PURI(ODISHA) - Affidavit Information of Candidate".
10. (10 February 2019). "जानें क्‍या है भाजपा प्रवक्‍ता संबित पात्रा का धनबाद कनेक्‍शन, टिकट के दावेदारों में उछला नाम". Dainik Jagran.
11. "Ward Wise Result Sheet MCD General Election -2012 Total Votes Polled".
12. Saini, Shivam. (26 December 2015). "Is Sambit Patra helping BJP's image?". Business Standard India.
13. Bamzai, Kaveree. (22 December 2018). "The journey of BJP's Sambit Patra from a trained surgeon to a nasty TV star". [[ThePrint]].
14. Press Trust of India. (30 September 2017). "BJP's Sambit Patra appointed to ONGC board".
15. (24 May 2019). "Puri election result: Sambit Patra loses a close fight with Pinaki Misra". [[The Economic Times]].
16. "General Election to Parliamentary Constituencies: Trends & Results June-2024 Parliamentary Constituency 17 - Puri (Odisha)".
17. (6 June 2024). "Bullish Wins & Bearish Losses: Here are the key contests and results of 2024 Lok Sabha polls". Economic Times.
18. Indian, The Logical. (7 March 2018). "Sambit Patra Appointed As Independent Director Of ONGC, Supreme Court Asks Centre Why".
19. (30 September 2017). "BJP's Sambit Patra appointed to ONGC board". Hindustan Times.
20. (25 October 2017). "Sambit Patra's appointment to ONGC Board challenged in High Court". The Economic Times.
21. (6 November 2017). "Relief to Sambit Patra:HC rejected PIL against his appointment as ONGC director".
22. (6 November 2017). "HC rejects PIL challenging Sambit Patra's appointment in ONGC". The Economic Times.
23. "SC to hear Centre's reply to plea challenging BJP leader Sambit Patra's appointment to ONGC board". Scroll.in.
24. Grewal, Kairvy. (7 February 2020). "Sambit Patra shares fake video of ex-Congress MLA & asks followers to fact-check it".
25. (7 February 2020). "'Stop editing videos': Twitter slams Sambit Patra for sharing Cong leader's fake 'Pakistan Zindabad' video". Free Press Journal.
26. (21 May 2021). "Twitter flags Sambit Patra's tweet on Congress 'toolkit' as manipulated media". The Hindu.
27. (22 May 2021). "Ministry warning to Twitter over Sambit Patra 'toolkit' tweet was sent after BJP sought action". ThePrint.
28. (1 April 2016). "BJP spokesman Sambit Patra under Delhi Medical Council lens for negligence in post-operative care". Economic Times.