'Outrageous, needs mental doctor’: Naveen Patnaik slams Nishikant Dubey over Biju Patnaik remarks

Bhubaneswar, March 30 (IANS) Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Odisha Assembly and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President Naveen Patnaik on Monday strongly criticised BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, stating that he needs “mental doctor’s attention” for making outrageous remarks about his father and former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik.

Speaking to media persons, the BJD supremo Patnaik said, “I was surprised to find the outrageous things that MP Shri Mr Dubey said about Biju Babu yesterday. I don’t think he knows that the prime minister Shri Nehru put an office (for Biju Babu) next to his in Delhi while Biju Babu was still Chief Minister of Odisha to devise the tactics and fight the Chinese.”

“I was very young at that time, about 13 years old. But I remember how furious Biju Babu was with the Chinese attack and how much he did to repel it. I think, Shri Dubey MP needs some mental doctor’s attention for saying these outrageous things,” he further added.

Meanwhile, the BJD Rajya Sabha MPs on Monday also staged a protest in the Upper House of Parliament over the issue of disrespectful and defamatory remarks made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey against Biju Patnaik on March 27. They later staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha over the "objectionable" remarks made by the BJP MP.

It is worth noting that on March 27, while speaking to media persons, Dubey claimed that Jawaharlal Nehru fought the 1962 war with China with American support and in collaboration with CIA agents, while Biju Patnaik, then the Chief Minister of Odisha, acted as a link between the US government, the CIA, and Nehru.

The remarks ruffled feathers among members of the opposition Biju Janata Dal, prompting sharp reactions from senior party leaders.

On March 28, senior BJD leader and Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra tendered his resignation from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT, chaired by BJP leader Nishikant Dubey, over his disrespectful statement against legendary leader Biju Patnaik.

In a letter addressed to the Chairman of Rajya Sabha on Saturday, Patra earlier wrote, “In protest, and as a matter of principle, I am resigning from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT under the Chairmanship of Nishikant Dubey. I cannot, in good conscience, continue to serve under someone who makes disrespectful remarks about the late Shri Biju Patnaik, as he did today in a public statement.”

--IANS

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