No political issue discussed with Odisha Guv, clarifies Naidu’s office

Bhubaneswar: The office of former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said no political issue was discussed when he met Odisha Governor Raghubar Das a week ago at the Raj Bhavan here amid speculation that the former Jharkhand chief minister is interested to return to active politics.Naidu and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met Das on September 27. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi was also there.Sarma is also the BJP’s co-in-charge for Jharkhand Assembly election which is due later this year.

In a post on X, Naidu’s office said it had been a courtesy call.“No political motives 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,” the post read.

The statement came a day after the Opposition BJD alleged that the Odisha Raj Bhavan had turned out to be a ‘war room’ for the BJP ahead of the Jharkhand elections and the dignity of the Governor’s House got eroded.It is being speculated that Das, who was the chief minister of Jharkhand between 2014 and 2019, wants to return to the politics of his home State.

After the meeting at Raj Bhavan on September 27, the Assam Chief Minister had said his talks with the Odisha Governor are personal and have no relation to the Jharkhand elections.

In the post, Naidu’s office said that the former Vice-President was in Bhubaneswar to attend the convocation of Asian School of Business Management (ASBM) as chief guest and it was scheduled months ahead.“As per protocol, the former Vice-President stays at Raj Bhavan and it is customary for the Governor and other dignitaries to call on the former VP as a courtesy,” the post said.