Following the shocking Assembly elections result in Odisha, which brought an end to Naveen Patnaik's 24-year-long rule in the state, the BJD chief on Saturday made his first comments on hi🔯s close aide VK Pandian.
Naveen Patnaik Says Criticism Against Pandian 'Unfortunate'; Praises Close Aide's 'Integrity, Honesty'
Patnaik also made it once again cle🌺ar that Pandian was not his successor and that it would be the people of Odisha who will decide the successor.
Patnaik termed the heavy criticism received by Pandian to be "unfortunate", asserting that he diཧd an "excellent job".
Amid the w🐎i🐼despread discontent among party leaders and workers, who blamed the bureaucrat-turned-politician for BJD's poor performance in the elections, the party chief said that Pandian "is a person of integrity and honesty and should be remembered for that".
However, the five-ti꧟me chief minister also made it once again clear that Pandian was not his successor and that it would be the people𒁃 of Odisha who will decide the successor.
𝔍Noting that he gracefully accepted his defeat in the assembly polls, Patnaik said he would continue serving the൲ people of the state, who are his "family", in whichever capacity possible.
"There has been some criticism of Pandian. This is unfortunate. He joined the party♓ and has not held any post. He did not contest the elections from any constituency," Patnaik told news agency PTI.
Be it during the two cyclones or the Covid-19 Pandemic, the BJD chief said, Pandian did an excellent jo☂b in different fields 𓂃in the last decade.
"After this good work🅺, he retired from the bureaucracy and joined the BJD. And contributed largely𓄧 by doing excellent work," he added.
Meanwhile, clearing the buzz over his health condition, Patnaik said his health has "always been fine and will continue to be so". "You have seen that I conducted a hectic campaign last month in t♍he heat. And that should be enough to give a verdict on my health," he told PTI.
Patnaik expressed his deep gratitude to the people of Odisha, sayi๊ng that they have showered him with ble📖ssings time and again.
In the recently concluded, Odisha Assembly elections,ꦗ the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in full force, ending BJD's 24-year-old rule.
The BJP won 78 seats in the 147-member Assembly, while the Patnaik-led party bagged 51 seats, the Congress won 14 seats and CPI(M) just one.
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Last month, BJP's Odisha unit had also written to the state chief secretary and DGP to free CM Naveen Patnaik from Pandian's "captivity".
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union Minister Giriraj Singh had also alleged that Patnaik was being held capt✤ive by his close aide.
(With PTI inputs)
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