BHUBANESWAR: Even as Naveen Patnaik is recovering from dehydration at a private hospital here, Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday called the BJD president and sought the support of his party for NDA’s vice-president candidate CP Radhakrishnan.
The BJD has seven Rajya Sabha members. While it had earlier supported all NDA candidates, the party’s stand has changed after it lost power to the BJP in the state and failed to secure a Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 elections. The BJD has since opposed all major decisions of the NDA government at the Centre in the Parliament.
“A decision on BJD’s stand on vice-president election will be taken only after complete recovery of the party president,” a senior leader said.
The condition of the former chief minister, who is undergoing treatment at SUM Ultimate Medicare, has shown marked improvement since he was admitted on Sunday evening. A bulletin issued by the hospital said he has been shifted from the observation room to a cabin on Monday afternoon and his condition has remains stable. “Naveen Patnaik is feeling fresh and his treatment is continuing,” it added.
Naveen also thanked the people for their good wishes. In a video message, the leader of Opposition said, “The doctors and staff in the SUM Ultimate Medicare are taking wonderful care of me. If you want to see me, you are more than welcome to come to Naveen Niwas here at Bhubaneswar,” he said.
BJD vice-president Sanjay Das Burma also said that the party president has recovered from the dehydration problem and is likely to be discharged from the hospital soon.