BHUBANESWAR: After a brief lull, former chief minister Naveen Patnaik once again came in support of his trusted aide, V K Pandian, on Monday. He dismissed a media report against the former bureaucrat as unfounded and false.
The report had claimed that Pandian had been attempting to strike a deal with the BJP brass to weaken the BJD in Odisha.
Though Pandian has not reacted to the allegations so far, Naveen promptly intervened and came to his rescue.
“This is completely false, motivated, defamatory, and malicious. As I have stated earlier, Mr. Pandian has served the state and party with utmost dedication, efficiency, and integrity, and he is known and respected for the same,” Naveen’s post on ‘X’ read.
Earlier, on June 8, Naveen publicly shielded Pandian, even though BJD supporters had been blaming the latter for the party’s electoral defeat in the recently held assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The next day, Pandian announced his retirement from active politics.
