Will Form Panel To Probe Naveen Patnaik's Health If BJP Wins Polls: PM Modi In Odisha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday raked up Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's health issue and said that a special committee will be formed once the BJP comes to power on June 10.

In his address to a public meeting in Odisha's Balasore, PM Narendra Modi said, "...Those who have been with him (Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik) for years say that now Naveen Babu can't do anything by himself. Those people also raise a concern that there might be any conspiracy behind this deterioration in Naveen Babu's health... On June 10, when BJP will form the govt, a special committee will investigate the sudden deterioration in Naveen Babu's health..."

The Prime Minister suspects a possible "conspiracy" behind Patnaik's deteriorating health. "Is it possible that the lobby, which is enjoying power in Odisha in Naveen Babu's name, has a hand in this? It is necessary to uncover this mystery," he added.

The PMs comments followed a video that surfaced recently, showing Patnaik's hand trembling during a speech. In response, BJD leader V K Pandian, originally from Tamil Nadu and known for his close association with Patnaik, discreetly moved Patnaik's shaking hand out of the camera's view.

Meanwhile, the Odisha Chief Minister has slammed the PM's remarks, saying that he if the Prime Minister was so concerned, he should have called him.

He said, "I understand that the Prime Minister, in a public meeting, has stated that I am in a bad health and he wants to institute an inquiry into this matter. If he was so concerned about my health then all he had to do was pick up a telephone and ring me up and ask me about my health.

There are a number of people in the BJP who have been spreading rumours about my health for the last 10 years. Let me assure the PM that I am in perfect health and I have been campaigning in our state for the last month..."

Days ago, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, sharing the video of the incident, accused Pandian of "controlling even the hand movements" of Patnail. "This is a deeply distressing video. Shri V K Pandian ji is even controlling the hand movements of Shri Naveen babu," Himanta added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had attacked Pandian, calling him "Tamil Babu". "Naveen babu has made a Tamil officer ruler... Oust the BJD (and) we will give a young Odia-speaking Chief Minister... babus have looted the state..." Shah said, last week.

"If BJP is voted to power a bhumiputra (son of the soil) will rule, not a Tamil babu."

In Odisha, the BJP is optimistic about not just doubling its Lok Sabha seat count (it won 8 out of 21 seats in 2019) but also confident that it can position itself to form the state government.