The 2024 elections have cast a shadow on the friendship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Speaking at a rally in Odisha on Wednesday, the Prime Minister raised questions on Patnaik’s failing health and claimed there is a conspiracy behind it. PM Modi said there is a need for a detailed probe to “uncover the mystery” and the “sudden deterioration” in the CM’s health. He further said that people are worried about his health, which has declined in the past one year and people close to the CM have often discussed his health concerns with him.

Patnaik, known for his brevity, said the prime minister, instead of forming a committee to investigate his health, should focus on the development and fiscal needs of Odisha. In a firm but measured response, the Odisha CM asserted that he is in good health and if the prime minister was indeed concerned about him, all he had to do was to ring him and ask.

The Biju Janata Dal chief blamed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders grom Odisha for spreading rumours about his health. Patnaik, who is getting flak for promoting his aide and former bureaucrat VK Pandian, also took a dig at the BJP’s insinuation that he does not campaign. While answering questions posed by the media, he quipped that the press contingent would have to excuse him since he was on his way to canvass in Nimapara.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

Controversy seems to be tailing the former president of the Wrestling Federation of India and lawmaker from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh. After he was accused of sexual harassment by female wrestlers and this inglorious exit from the federation, Singh, a six-time lawmaker was not given a ticket to contest.

Given his clout in the area, the party agreed to give his son Karan Bhushan Singh a ticket from Kaiserganj for this year’s Lok Sabha elections. But on Wednesday, the son was in the news for the wrong reasons. Two young men were killed, and a woman was injured when a car, which was part of Bhushan’s convoy, rammed into a motorcycle.

A section of leaders in the party feels that Singh, who has cultivated an image of a ‘Bahubali’ (muscleman), should have been kept at a distance. They did not even support the decision to field his son from Kaiserganj.