V-P election: Gopalkrishna meets BJD MPs in New Delhi

New Delhi: Ahead of vice-presidential election on August 5, opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Tuesday met BJD MPs here.
The meeting was held at MP Bhartruhari Mahtab’s official residence with MPs Pinaki Mishra, Baijayant Panda, Pratyusha Rajeswari, Prasanna Patasani, Anubhav Mohanty and Pratap Deb in attendance.
Recollecting his connection with Odisha, Gopalkrishna said eminent economist Prabhat Patnaik and Jayant Das, descendant of Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das, are his good friends.
“I have personally derived inspiration from the lives of Utkalmani and great Gandhian Rama Devi. I also had many opportunities of visiting Odisha and every time I have done so, I have been very graciously received by Naveen Babu (Naveen Patnaik), with whom and with whose sister (Gita Mehta) I have enjoyed many years of warm friendship,” he said.
The regional party had earlier extended its support to the UPA candidate for the post, despite having voted for NDA’s Ram Nath Kovind for the President’s post. Venkaiah Naidu is the NDA’s nominee for vice-presidential poll.