Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s “advanced age and health issues” have become a recurring theme of jibes and criticisms from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As the BJP battles the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for dominance in the state’s 147-member Assembly and its 21 Lok Sabha seats, Patnaik’s health has come under scrutiny.
PM Modi’s Attack on Patnaik’s Health..
Prime Minister Modi, 73, recently stirred controversy by suggesting, without presenting concrete evidence, a “conspiracy behind the sudden deterioration of Naveen Patnaik’s health.” He announced plans to form a committee to investigate the 77-year-old Chief Minister’s medical history.
Speaking at a rally in Baripada, Odisha, Modi questioned, “Is there a conspiracy behind the sudden deterioration of Naveen Patnaik’s health? Is the lobby currently running the Patnaik government on his behalf responsible for this sudden change?” The remarks have intensified the political tension in Odisha, adding another layer to the ongoing power struggle between the BJP and the BJD.
“If the BJP forms the government in Odisha, it will constitute a committee to ascertain the reason behind the deterioration of Naveen Patnaik’s health,” thundered Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally. His bold statement quickly reverberated through the political landscape of Odisha.
CM Patnaik’s Response..
Hours later, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik responded with a sharp retort, suggesting a more direct approach. “All the Prime Minister had to do was pick up the phone and ask me about my health,” he quipped. “Let me assure the PM that I am in perfect health.”
Patnaik highlighted the contradictions in Modi’s approach. “He earlier said in public, ‘I am his good friend’. If that is true, a simple phone call would have sufficed. Instead, BJP members from Odisha and Delhi are spreading rumors about my health.”
Modi’s allegations, echoed by other prominent BJP leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, seem to target VK Pandian. A senior BJD leader from Tamil Nadu and Patnaik’s close aide, Pandian was recently observed attempting to steady the Chief Minister’s shaking hands during a campaign speech. This incident has fueled speculation and provided fodder for the BJP’s narrative.
The exchange underscores the escalating tension between the BJP and the BJD as they vie for control in Odisha. With both sides exchanging barbs, the political battle in the state is becoming increasingly personal and intense.
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… pic.twitter.com/6PEAt7F9iM
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) May 28, 2024
Mr. VK Pandian, who has consistently downplayed speculation about being a chief minister-in-waiting, has also become a target of derision from Amit Shah. Shah, whose party is making an all-out effort to win over voters in Tamil Nadu—a state where the BJP has traditionally struggled—mockingly referred to Pandian as a “Tamil babu.”
“Naveen Babu has made a Tamil officer ruler. Oust the BJD and we will give you a young Odia-speaking Chief Minister. Babus have looted the state,” Shah declared last week. “If the BJP is voted to power, a bhumiputra (son of the soil) will rule, not a Tamil babu.”
Chief Minister Patnaik has dismissed these attacks. Last Friday, he accused the BJP of spreading falsehoods, emphasizing that he has been actively campaigning across the state for the past month. “There is a limit to the lies the BJP can tell. As you can see, I am in very good health,” he told news agency ANI.
On Tuesday, after a video surfaced showing Mr. Pandian covering Patnaik’s hand, the BJD leader criticized the BJP for turning “non-issues into issues.” “This will certainly not work,” he asserted.
Prime Minister Modi’s attacks are part of the BJP’s intensified efforts to unseat the ruling BJD and secure its first-ever Assembly election victory in Odisha, while also aiming to capture as many of the state’s Lok Sabha seats as possible. The BJP has never governed Odisha, a state that has alternated between the BJD and the Congress. Patnaik has been Chief Minister since March 2000.
On the Lok Sabha front, the BJP is pushing hard, despite competition from the Congress-led INDIA bloc, towards its goal of ‘abki baar, 400 paar’ and securing a third consecutive term at the center. In the 2019 elections, the BJD won 12 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats, a decrease of eight seats from the previous election, while the BJP secured eight seats and saw a substantial 16.9 percent increase in vote share.
The BJP’s focus on Mr. Pandian suggests they view him as a significant threat, potentially even more so than Chief Minister Patnaik. While Modi and other BJP leaders have accused Patnaik of failing to develop the state over the past 24 years, their specific and targeted attacks on Pandian indicate they see him as a key player in Odisha’s political landscape.
