BHUBANESWAR: Amid speculations over Odisha Governor Raghubar Das joining active politics again, the office of former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said no political issue was discussed during his meeting with the former Jharkhand chief minister a week back at the Raj Bhavan here.
In a post on X, Naidu’s office said the visit was a courtesy call. “No political motive should be ascribed to this courtesy call and dragging the Office of the former Vice President of India into a political controversy of this nature is patently unfair,” it said.
The statement came a day after Opposition BJD alleged that the Odisha Raj Bhavan has turned out to be a war room of the BJP ahead of Jharkhand elections and the sanctity of the Governor’s House has been compromised. The BJD said the visits of former Vice President Naidu and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to the Raj Bhavan on September 27 have raised questions.
In a media conference on Thursday, BJD’s Rajya Sabha members Sasmit Patra and Sulata Deo said Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who was present at Raj Bhavan during the meet, left for Jharkhand on September 30 to address public meetings. Notably, the Assam chief minister is the BJP’s co-election in-charge for Jharkhand.
In the post, Naidu’s office said, “The former Vice President was in Bhubaneswar to attend the convocation of Asian School of Business Management (ASBM) as chief guest as scheduled months ahead. As per protocol, the former Vice President stays at Raj Bhavan. It is customary for the Governor and other dignitaries to call on the former VP as a courtesy.”
Meanwhile, BJP’s state president Manmohan Samal said Raj Bhavan should not be dragged into politics. “Entire Odisha is open for the BJD to do politics. They (BJD) should spare the Raj Bhavan,” he added.