KalingaTV News Network
Bhubaneswar: Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout, known for his unsparing remarks, took a jibe at party MP Baijayant Panda on his diplomatic tweet on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s health on Independence Day.
Panda had tweeted, “I pray to Jagannath for @Naveen_Odisha’s good health. He’d felt unwell at #IndependenceDay celebrations but his ofc has communicated he’s ok,” on August 15, after Naveen Patnaik fell ill during State Independence Day celebrations. Interestingly, his tweet had raised eyebrows as the phrase “He’d felt unwell, but his ofc has communicated he’s ok,” was contradictory to the official statement which said he was doing well.
“Why was there a need to comment on his health when the Chief Minister’s office had already issued a statement. It reveals his intentions,” Rout said in an exclusive interview in Kalinga TV’s program ‘Target.’
Firing a fresh salvo at Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Rout said that he would single-handedly defeat the Petroleum minister in the elections even if he contests from his own village.
“Dharmendra Pradhan didn’t allow his father Debendra, to contest and thought of winning on his own. People questioned the move and he was defeated. The people of his own village do not favour him,” he said.
Rout had earlier expressed reservations about the meeting between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Dharmendra Pradhan over IOCL in New Delhi today saying the meeting was against protocol.
Kalinga AI