Pandian Quitting Politics Not Enough, Those Who Pushed Odisha Down Must Be Punished: BJP Leader

Bhubaneswar: Taking a dig at BJD leader V K Pandian after his announcement to retire from politics, senior BJP leader Pitambar Acharya claimed that the arrogance and vehemence shown by the former bureaucrat during election campaign in Odisha is unheard of in politics.

Shortly after Pandian announced that he is quitting politics, the state BJP spokesman in a post on X lashed out at the former IAS officer and alleged that crores of Odias have been robbed by the cartel of Temilians under the auspices of BJD.

Pandian not only claimed to be the number two of the party but also projected as the heir of Naveen Patnaik in politics, Acharya claimed.

“The arrogance and vehemence shown by him (Pandian) during campaign is unheard of in politics,” he said.

“Now that he claims to have quit politics is not enough. The guilty needs to be punished for pushing Odisha down,” the BJP leader said.

Describing Pandian’s decision to quit politics as the end of a ‘drama,’ another leader said the ex-bureaucrat had no other option but to pull out of political activities.

He further claimed that around 80 per cent of people within BJD are now against Pandian.

Pandian had earlier asserted that he would quit politics if party president Naveen Patnaik does not become the chief minister of Odisha for the sixth time after the assembly elections.

BJD president Naveen Patnaik had on Saturday termed the ongoing criticisms against Pandian as unfortunate and said that the ex-bureaucrat did an “excellent job”.