Naveen Patnaik Will Be Odisha CM For Sixth Time: Pandian

Bhubaneswar: BJD’s key strategist V. Karthikeyan Pandian on Monday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that the BJP will form government in Odisha on June 10 and asserted that, “Naveen Patnaik will be sworn-in as the chief minister of the state for a record sixth term on June 9.”

The Prime Minister, addressing two separate meetings at Berhampur and Nabarangpur, said “On June 4 the BJP will emerge victorious in Odisha Legislative Assembly polls. On June 6, we will name our Odisha chief minister candidate and on June 10, our CM will take oath of office.”

The rare slugfest between Modi and Pandian created flutters in the political circles, while many maintained that the Prime Minister cannot make such assertions without having a clear understanding of the ground situation, the others vouched that the bureaucrat-turned politician cannot go wrong as all his previous articulations were proved right.

Reacting to Modi’s claims, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “BJP dina-re swapna dekhuchi (The BJP is day-dreaming)”.