Bhubaneswar: Days after the State BJP's demand for removal of Sam Pitroda as Odisha government’s technical advisor, the leading technocrat today resigned from his post. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik accepted the resignation and expressed deep gratitude for his cooperation.
The well-known telecom engineer and inventor enjoyed the status of a cabinet rank minister as technical advisor to Odisha government even as he had not availed any facilities and received a token salary of Re 1 a month. He was recently appointed as the chairman of Congress’s overseas department following which State BJP had demanded his ouster.
BJP reacted sharply to the latest development. "Now, CM Naveen Patnaik's affection towards Congress exposed. After that, he asked Pitroda to quit", BJP State vice president Sameer Mohanty said.
At a press meet, BJP had on June 2 criticised Odisha government for not removing him from the cabinet rank.
“There is no point in keeping Pitroda as the technical advisor of the state government after his appointment as the chairman of Congress’s overseas department,” BJP spokesman Sajan Sharma had said.