Odisha: PM’s Comment on CM Naveen Patnaik’s Health Being Seen as ‘Derisive’

As the campaign for the last phase of polling on June 1 in Odisha nears the end, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually signed off on a dangerously combative tone, which was embarrassing for his party, BJP, as well. The state will elect a new Assembly as well as Lok Sabha candidates.

Modi’s comment expressing “concern” over the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s, 77, health and hinting at a “conspiracy” around it and promising to have it investigated if voted to power, has raised many eyebrows.

From the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) point of view, it may be a “concern’ expressed by the Prime Minister but making it an election issue, reflected the lowering of political standards set by the saffron brigade. More so, such a remark on the personal health of someone from someone of the stature of the PM, is being seen as unethical.

The PM’s purported concern for Patnaik’s health, which is allegedly said to be not good, was baffling as such issues of personal nature were mentioned by Modi in three public meetings in Odisha on Wednesday.

“The question now is whether there is a conspiracy behind the deteriorating health condition of Naveen Babu? Whether the lobby that has been enjoying power from behind the scenes in Odisha in the name of Naveen Babu, has a hand in it?,” he said in a public meeting.

One does not know whether this was a tongue-in-cheek homily from the PM or a real concern, as the PM said that a probe must be conducted on who is responsible for the CM’s deteriorating health condition.

Probe apart, the repeated mention of Patnaik’s health in public meetings by the PM itself does not fit into the appropriate nuances of politics.

“If the Prime Minister is so concerned about my health, then simply he could have made a phone call to me to enquire about my health”, came the polite rebuttal from Patnaik, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo.

“Indeed, that could have been the most appropriate way to express concern about the CM’s health than playing it to the gallery. It may backfire eventually, which Modi’s campaign advisors have little realised,” said Priya Ranjan Sahoo, a senior journalist, adding that “such gimmicks on the personal health of Patnaik sound very derisive”.

Later his speeches in three locations, PM Modi maintained the same tempo of his “concern” over Patnaik’s health.

In fact, the PM also made an ominous prediction that in another six months, there would be a ‘big blast’ in BJD, stopped short of describing the nature of that ‘blast’.  

However, regardless of the vitriolic comments from the PM, the Odisha CM continues to maintain his usual cool.

Patnaik, in an earlier video message to the people of Odisha, said it was “really sad that leaders from outside the state are coming here and attacking me on a personal level…. You know it very well that I never disrespect anyone or make offensive statements.”

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Odisha.