Amid turmoil in the BJD over Waqf Bill voting that sparked internal conflict and speculations about a split, party chief Naveen Patnaik came out in support of VK Pandian and vehemently denied his involvement in any affairs of the party. 

“I want to clearly state that VK Pandian in the past has done a lot of good work not only for the state but for the party. He should not be criticized or blamed for anything. Also, he left the party 10 months ago and is not involved in any of the party’s work,” said Naveen Patnaik while addressing the media at his residence in Bhubaneswar.

Patnaik also slammed senior leader Prabhat Tripathy. “Prabhat Tripathy, ex-MLA was expelled from the BJD some years ago as he was inducted in chit fund case and spent some years in jail. I want to clarify again that he doesn’t belong to the party.”