Naveen Patnaik

"The hospital will soon release a bulletin on Patnaik's health condition," a senior BJD leader said.

"We are closely coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and concerned Indian Embassy about the incident and waiting for their response," Vishal Gagan, Principal Resident Commissioner, Odisha at New Delhi said.

Patnaik, who now serves as Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, expressed condolences and prayed for the recovery of the injured but accused the BJP-led government of failing to manage the annual event.

Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling said the primary cause of illness among devotees was extreme heat and humid conditions.

Ahead of Odisha polls, the BJP had repeatedly targeted VK Pandian, Naveen Patnaik's former private secretary, of wielding undue influence over ministers and MLAs in the BJD government.

"Creating a false narrative is the main strategy against the BJD. We should be aggressive in exposing this, especially on social media," he told party leaders and workers after being named as the BJD president.

After clearly stating that his party was against the bill ahead of its presentation in the Lok Sabha, the party, shortly before the voting in the Upper House, had tweaked its stand.

Several senior leaders of the BJD came down heavily on the BJP government for playing politics in the name of Biju Patnaik, who was one of the architect of modern Odisha.

As long as we work towards Biju Babu’s vision, the BJD will remain strong and continue to live in the hearts of the people, says the former CM.

Biju Patnaik appointed Santrupt Mishra, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Amar Patnaik, Sasmit Patra and Pradeep Kumar Majhi as party's national spokespersons.

The BJD has nine MPs in the Rajya Sabha, while it failed to win any seat in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, for the first time since its formation in 1997

The party leadership had sent defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav as its observers to the Odisha capital for the crucial BJP Legislature Party meeting.

In his 24-year tenure, Patnaik operated from his personal home, Naveen Niwas, which effectively served as the Chief Minister's residence. Sparse furniture, few personal artefacts and even fewer self-aggrandizing portraits – it never looked like a power centre.

The BJP does not want to let an MP become the CM because it needs each and every MP in the overhead count while leading a coalition government. So, that factor puts a question mark against the names of Dharmendra Pradhan and Jual Oram.

In the state polls, BJD won 51 seats, a massive dip from its 112 in the previous assembly elections.

The BJP’s performance and rise has shocked everybody in Odisha as the ruling party had exuded confidence of winning over 100 seats in the Assembly segment in Odisha.

If the trends hold, then Naveen Patnaik, who has been the chief minister since 2000, is likely to be on his way out.

I can’t understand these exaggerations. You may have noticed that Pandian is not even standing for elections, says Naveen Patnaik.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said a "big surprise" was awaiting on June 4 as the opposition INDIA bloc would win the Lok Sabha polls

If he was so concerned about my health then all he had to do was pick up a telephone and ring me up and ask me about my health. There are a number of people in the BJP who have been spreading rumours about my health for the last 10 years, says CM Patnaik.