Talking about PM Modi’s statement on his health condition, CM Naveen Patnaik said if PM Modi was so concerned about his health, all he needed was to pick up a telephone and inquire about his health instead of stating it loudly at a public meeting.
Bhubaneswar: A day after a video went viral on social media showing his hand shaking, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik clarified that it is not a medical condition and has been exaggerated for no reason by a BJP Chief Minister.
“I face no health issues at all, I am in excellent health. I have been campaigning for the last month in a very hot season and I am fine,” Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said on questions being raised by the BJP about his health.
#WATCH | On viral video showing his hand shaking, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik says, “It’s no medical condition at all. It has been exaggerated for no reason by a BJP Chief Minister.” pic.twitter.com/Tm0SA4JUOR
— ANI (@ANI) May 30, 2024
Talking about PM Narendra Modi’s statement on his health condition, CM Naveen Patnaik said if PM Modi was so concerned about his health, all he needed was to pick up a telephone and inquire about his health instead of stating it loudly at a public meeting.
On PM Modi’s statement ‘if BJP comes to power in Odisha, a special committee will be formed to investigate Naveen Babu’s deteriorating health’, Naveen Patnaik said, “All I have to say is that if PM Modi is so concerned about my health, all he needed was to pick up a telephone and inquire about my health instead of stating it loudly at a public meeting three times yesterday. This means that all he is trying to do is garner votes during the election time. This rumour has been spread by the people in Delhi for the last 10 years…My health is perfectly alright.”
The statement from the Odisha CM comes after PM Modi said there is a “conspiracy” behind the deterioration of Naveen Patnaik’s health and said he would form a committee to inquire about the Chief Minister’s medical history.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Modi, he said that if he was so concerned, all he had to do was to call him and enquire about his health.
Naveen Patnaik said, “I understand that the Prime Minister, in a public meeting, has stated that I am in bad health and he wants to institute an inquiry into this matter. If he was so concerned about my health, and he has stated publicly that I am a good friend of his, 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,” he added.
Naveen Patnaik (77) has been serving as the Chief Minister of Odisha since 2000 and is the second-longest serving CM of any Indian state. He is seeking a record sixth term to power in the state.
The assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha are taking place simultaneously, in four phases, from May 13 to June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
In the last assembly elections in 2019, the BJD won 112 out of 146 seats. BJP won 23 seats and Congress got nine seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJD mopped up the lion’s share of the electoral spoils, with the BJP and the Congress following behind. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8, and the Congress bagged just a lone seat.