‘Naveen Patnaik has concrete plan to take Odisha to top’

Bhubaneswar: Asserting that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has a concrete plan to take Odisha to the top in all fields, his close associate V K Pandian has said it is a matter of time for migration from the state to stop completely.

In an exclusive video interview with PTI, Pandian also said the Biju Janata Dal will sweep the state in the ongoing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections as there was no match to the love of the people the chief minister commands.

“People are so much in love with him and they appreciate his work. They know the state is in safe hands and their progress is guaranteed with Naveen Babu at the helm of affairs,” said Pandian, who served as the chief minister’s private secretary before quitting his nearly 25-year-long bureaucratic career last year to join the BJD.

“He (Patnaik) does politics to serve the people, not to be in power. That difference also people understand,” he added.

Asked if he has seen any fatigue in the chief minister after holding the position for five terms and now seeking a sixth, Pandian said, “If you do good work, how will any fatigue come? He goes to every election with a pro-incumbency wave.” “His margins, vote share and seats have been increasing and in the last panchayat elections, he actually created a national record by winning all zila parishads for the BJD on its symbol. That is the kind of popularity he enjoys,” Pandian added.