RTI Activists to Expose Details on Mysterious Foreign Visit of Former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik under the supervision of Fugitive Tamil Sanyashi VK Pandian

The former Chief Minister Patnaik made frequent foreign visits in 2022 and 2023. The purpose of all these visits was to encourage international companies to invest in Odisha. All these programs were managed by his close aid fugitive former IAS officer VK Pandian.

Crores of rupees were spent on these visits. But not a single company came to invest. So the question arises whether the former Chief Minister’s foreign visits were really for attracting capital or for some other purpose. All the details of this have been captured under the Right to Information Act. All the following information will be presented before the media for the information of the people of Odisha.

1. Why did Naveen Patnaik and VK Pandian go separately instead of together with other ministers and officials during their visit to Japan in April 2023?

2. Why did Naveen Babu and Shri Pandian go to Singapore in a special plane paying Rs. 1.60 crores during their visit to Japan? What was the business in Singapore?

3. Why did he go to Thailand when he returned from Japan? From there, he returned to Bhubaneswar on a special plane.

4. Why did a travel agency from Uttar Pradesh book flight tickets from Singapore to Tokyo and from Tokyo to Thailand for the Japan visit without using OTDC? Why was the accommodation expenses of Naveen Babu, Pandian and Ravikanth in Japan paid through this travel agency? Why didn’t IPICOL or FICCI pay the bill? Ministers and more than 12 officers went on the Japan visit. FICCI paid everything.

5. The Italy visit is the most mysterious. Who removed any documents of this visit from the Chief Minister’s office? The air tickets for this visit were not paid by OTDC but by a private company in Delhi. Why was this money given to the resident commissioner? Naveen Babu’s visit was very controversial.