Pandian will win from any seat in Ganjam: BJD's District President Chyau Patnaik

Political circles are abuzz with a lot of speculations about ex-bureaucrat VK Pandian, who has been in the limelight following his appointment as the chairman of both the 5T (Transformational Initiative) and Nabin Odisha. 

While political observers are keeping a close watch on what kind of role the ex-bureaucrat is going to play in the BJD politics, rumour mills have gone into overdrive that he could be contesting elections in 2024 from any of 13 Assembly segments in Ganjam. At this time, a senior BJD leader has dropped an interesting hint about Pandian's political fortune in Ganjam, where the ex-bureaucrat was once posted as the collector.  

Speaking exclusively to OTV, senior BJD leader & BJD’s Ganjam district president, Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik said, “VK Pandian will win if he contests from any of the 13 seats in Ganjam. But Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will decide who will get the tickets.” 

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He further stated that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will decide if VK Pandian will join the party or not. "Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik believes in work. In a few months, Pandian took a historical initiative of touring all 147 assembly constituencies. The opposition parties, who had been opposing the state-wide tours of Pandian fell silent after the Chief Minister made his statement about the then 5T Secretary (Pandian) in the Assembly.” Chyau Patnaik said. 

He also added that Pandian has not yet joined the BJD and the Chief Minister will take a call about it.   

Asked if they would welcome Pandian if he opts to contest in any of the Assembly seats in Ganjam district; Chyau Patnaik took an evasive stand saying, “The BJD organization is strong in all the 13 Assembly segments as people want to see Naveen Patnaik and the conch symbol.”

Patnaik, however, denied reports of factionalism in the ruling party in 13 constituencies but said that there may be differences of opinion among the cadres. 

As for the Gopalpur segment, now represented by the expelled-BJD leader, Pradeep Panigrahy, Chyau Patnaik said that after Gopabandhu Das looked after the organisation, the party performed well in the elections to posts of sarpanch, samiti member, Zilla parishad and in the NAC.