Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a direct attack on Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, saying that his exit was certain and that a handful of officers will not save him.
"I want to tell Naveen 'babu' that you are going and it is certain. A handful of officials cannot save you," the Prime Minister said while addressing an election rally in Barua under the Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency.
It was for the first time that Modi directly attacked Naveen Patnaik during electioneering in the state. Monday was also the last day that the Prime Minister was campaigning in Odisha.
"In the first and second phase of polls, I was respectful of the political decorum and refrained from making any personal attack on Naveen 'babu' because he has served Odisha for long and deserved a respectable farewell.
"But the way Naveen 'babu' took the shelter of violence like Bengal in the past 10 to 12 days, I want to say today, 'Naveen babu aap jaa rahe ho, apka jaana tair hai' (you (Patnaik) are going and your exit is certain)," said the Prime Minister.