Odisha’s CM Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday reacted to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks after a video showing Biju Janta Dal (BJD) leader VK Pandian hiding his shivering hand went viral.
In a short video clip, Odisha CM accused the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of making issues out of non-issues, warning that it will not work. Meanwhile, he also pounded the same hand on the podium, giving a symbolic reply to the saffron party.
He said, “I believe the BJP, which is known to make non-issues into issues, are discussing my hands. This will certainly not work."
What CM Himanta said?
Patnaik’s statement comes after Himanta shared the viral video on X earlier in the day and accused VK Pandian of even controlling the hand movements of Patnaik.
CM Himanta wrote, “This is a deeply distressing video. Shri VK Pandian ji is even controlling the hand movements of Shri Naveen Babu. I shudder to imagine the level of control a retired ex-bureaucrat from Tamil Nadu is currently exercising over the future of Odisha! BJP is determined is give back the reins of Odisha to the people of the State.”
Notably, a video of Naveen Patnaik went viral on Tuesday, in which CM Patnaik was addressing a public meeting. The video shows Pandian holding the mic when Patnaik’s hand resting on the podium starts shivering. Pandian then abruptly grabbed his hand and hid it.
The video triggered a wave of speculations regarding Patnaik’s health condition.
Elections in Odisha
The campaigning for the final phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections is in full swing with BJP and BJD as prime contenders targeting each other. So far three phases of polling in the state have been concluded. Out of 21 Lok Sabha seats, 6 are slated for polls in the final phase on June 1. On the other hand, 42 Assembly seats out of a total of 147 will also go to polls simultaneously. The results of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will be declared on June 1.
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