'...just be neutral about everything.' 'I will just take life as it comes.'
Those who know Naveen Patnaik well say his final decision will depend on who has the edge after the election.
Sagoo was the lone candidate left in fray after incumbent senior vice president Anju Bobby George opted out of the race for the position.
The teacher was kidnapped and murdered on October 8, while her body was exhumed from a school playground on October 19. Two people, including the prime accused, were arrested.
The BJD not only supported the BJP in Parliament on different issues over the last few years but also helped Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw get elected to Rajya Sabha in 2019 and 2024.
Modi, in his rally just days ahead of the last phase of the Lok Sabha election, also said that "well-wishers of Naveen babu are worried over his deteriorating health condition."
'The tide started to turn against the BJD when V K Pandian toured the districts gathering people's grievances last year.'
The announcement came on a day that marks the third anniversary of the Naveen Patnaik-led government's fifth tenure in the state.
Nayak had earlier resigned from the BJD and joined the BJP and got a nomination from the saffron party.
Rajiv Gandhi, his son Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia Karan Singh, Naveen Patnaik besides celebrated authors like Amitav Ghosh and Vikram Seth studied at The Doon School.
Although the BJP has never been ballistic about the BJD and Narendra Modi has avoided being critical of Naveen Patnaik, the BJP is optimistic that the party can improve its electoral fortunes in Odisha on its own, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The probe agency has issued summons to Samal and his son Prayaskanti in connection with Barapada Engineering College land irregularities, they added.
The picture of Shah and Mamata sharing a lunch led to talks in the political circles about a possible scale down in their attacks on each other.
Patnaik will take oath as the chief minister for fifth time in a row at 10.30 am on Wednesday.
"There is a need for a name change. What did Ravenshaw, after whom the university is named, do during the famine," the minister had asked,
Patnaik's image of a "clean and honest" politician is widely regarded as the reason why he was able to withstand a spirited challenge thrown by the Bharatiya Janata Party, analysts say of perhaps the lone regional satrap who cannot even properly speak the language of his native state.
Mr Pradhan's understanding of realpolitik and organisational dynamics makes him the ultimate party man, notes Aditi Phadnis.
A threat about the presence of bombs on an Akasa Air flight at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar was received on social media, but it later turned out to be a hoax, an official of the airport said on Thursday.
The Odisha government told the assembly over 40,000 workers migrated from the state last year, with the highest number -- 26,151 -- from Balangir.
The chief minister's statement is significant as several non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties are trying to forge unity in a bid to form a grand alliance to take on the ruling party in the Lok Sabha elections this year.
'Despite rising inflows, many NRIs lack awareness about NRO and NRE accounts and mistakenly use family accounts or invest in a relative's name.' 'Many are unaware of tax implications.'
'Senior Vatican officials were pleasantly surprised at the number of Indians who had come to witness the ceremony.'
Will Andhra Pradesh follow the Odisha model, voting differently in Lok Sabha and assembly elections? Or will Odisha follow Andhra Pradesh, voting in new faces in both?
The national capital witnessed the worst riots in last three decades this week, with allegations of police acting as mute spectators when angry mobs ran riot on the streets of northeast Delhi.
Embroiled in a controversy over his 'slip of the tongue' on Lord Jagannath, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party's Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra apologised and announced he will undertake penance by observing fast for three days from Tuesday after being criticised from different quarters.
In separate petitions submitted to the Odisha police, both parties alleged that the victim approached multiple police stations -- Puri Ghat, Sadar, and Barang --before her FIR was accepted by the Badambadi police station.
Sucharita Mohanty, the daughter of former Congress MP Brajamohan Mohanty, in a mail to Venugopal on Friday claimed that her campaign was hit hard because the party denied her funding.
From hobnobbing with the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy and Mick Jagger, the reclusive author-turned-politician has come a long way, says Anita Katiyal
Many seniors mistakenly believe they need not file returns if tax is deducted at source (TDS) on income received. This is incorrect.
Senior BJP leader and Patnagarh MLA KV Singh Deo and debutant from Nimapara assembly segment Pravati Parida took oath as deputy chief ministers.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Tuesday as the Monsoon Session of Parliament gets underway next week with the united opposition set to corner the National Democratic Alliance government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case and railway safety.
'That's the beauty of Naveen.' 'His intermittent support to the NDA and Modi confuses BJP workers in Odisha.' 'It gives an impression that Naveen has a tacit understanding with the NDA and that the BJP will not really challenge him wholeheartedly.'
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged torture of an Army officer and the sexual assault of his fiance at a police station in Bhubaneswar.
The BJP's vote share in Cuttack went up from 9 per cent in 2009 to 38 per cent in 2019.
As Cyclone Dana barrels toward the coasts of Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the state's population, the government is racing against time to execute a massive evacuation plan aimed at relocating about 10 lakh people in several coastal districts to safety. In West Bengal, the cyclone is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
'I appeal to the BJP to keep the Lord above any political discourse.'
The Odisha assembly has a strength of 147 MLAs while there are 21 Lok Sabha MP seats in the state.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa assumed the centre stage in the national scene on Monday by attacking Centre's policies on internal security during the chief minister's conference in New Delhi.
'In being dismissive of Naveen, his colleagues showed incredible naivety.' 'On the few occasions that he put his foot down, the overconfident party leaders, who believed they were using him and not the other way around, failed to read the signs of what was to come.'