Bhubaneswar: Even as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said he was in good health, the BJP staged a demonstration in front of Ram Temple in Bhubaneswar to reiterate its demand to free him from the clutches of VK Pandian.
BJP’s spokesman Dillip Mallik, who led the party workers in the demonstration, said the campaign videos of the chief minister, released by the BJD, have proved that Naveen has been held hostage by Pandian and some of non-Odia officers.
“As per protocol, the chief minister should hold meetings with the chief secretary and director general of police to discuss various issues of the state. But the media has not been informed about any such meeting recently. It has raised doubts among the people of Odisha who have every right to know the condition of their chief minister,” he said.
The agitating BJP workers also submitted a letter to the chief secretary in this regard. The party sought his intervention to release Naveen from the clutches of Pandian in the larger interest of the state.
“It is unfortunate that Naveen’s messages to the people are being sent through videos of his interview with Pandian. The people would like to hear from their chief minister, not a former official. We have appealed to the chief secretary to allow the chief minister to independently interact with the people without any interference from his former personal secretary,” Mallik said.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister countered the BJP’s allegation by saying that he was in good health. “There is a limit to the amount of lies BJP can tell. As you can see, I am in very good health and I have been campaigning for around a month all over the state,” he told ANI.
But the BJP continued to stick to its stand as its state spokesman Sajjan Sharma said, “The party has been accusing Pandian of keeping the chief minister as hostage and demanding Naveen’s release. But the chief minister is speaking about his health and that too in presence of Pandian. Does it mean that he has been freed from the former bureaucrat’s clutches?”
He said the people want to know when did the chief minister hold one-to-one talk with the chief secretary last time. Stating that it has raised the suspicion of Pandian’s role, he said let the state administration facilitate an interaction of the chief minister alone with the people for an hour. The truth will come out during the meeting, he added.
Also Read: [Watch] Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Reacts Sharply To BJP’s ‘Lies’ About His Health
