Bhubaneswar: In a bid to silence the Opposition’s criticism on the official sanction to his visit to different parts of Odisha and announcing different projects, secretary (5T) to chief minister VK Pandian on Monday played an audio message from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on his approval to the visits at a public meeting in Bargarh.
On the first day of his two-day visit to the district, Pandian held a meeting with the members of Mission Shakti at Nishamani High School ground. Before starting the meeting, he played the audio message of Naveen.
The chief minister, who spoke in Koshali dialect, extended his wishes to the members of Mission Shakti. “I hope you are continuing your good work. I have sent my secretary Pandian babu to enquire about your wellbeing and problems. I will continue to help you in resolving your problems. Please continue your good works,” he said.
The secretary has been in the eye of a storm with BJP and Congress terming his visits as unconstitutional. The Opposition parties maintained that the people’s elected representatives like ministers and MLAs are relegated to the background in the programmes of Pandian.
Instead of taking the lead in such programmes, the people’s representatives are made to look after making arrangements during the secretary’s visit, they said. They also doubted whether the chief minister was aware of the secretary’s visits and announcements.
