Naveen Patnaik close to Modi, Shah: Former Union Minister Jitendra Singh

Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Jitendra Singh Saturday claimed Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik remained close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Dubbing BJD as the B-Team of the BJP, Singh said the Odisha government is being remote controlled by officers who he alluded were in the chief minister's office.

Singh, who was here to address a press conference, said: "It is a matter of grave concern that the BJD president Naveen Ji has been 'sitting in the laps' of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. It is not that he is abiding by Modi and Shah now, it has been happening since a long time."

He went on to claim that the state was being run by a coterie of powerful officers and not by its political leadership.

"I feel pity for the Odisha ministers, MPs and MLAs who are found sitting outside the chambers of these officers. Their condition is precarious in the state," Singh said.

Referring to the inaugural function of new Parliament building