Newly appointed Odisha governor Raghubar Das’s meeting with chief minister Naveen Patnaik at Naveen Nivas has triggered a controversy.

The Congress has accused the governor of violating the protocol which, according to the party, should have been avoided. However, both the BJP and the BJD defended the governor and Naveen.

Governor went straight to Naveen Nivas on Thursday evening after returning from Delhi. Das spent nearly half an hour at Naveen’s residence. However, being the head of the state, his visit to Naveen Nivas has not gone down well with the Congress.

Das tweeted that he went to Naveen Nivas to wish the chief minister a happy Diwali and during the meeting discussed issues pertaining to the development of Odisha.

In the official handle X of the governor, Governor House said: “Hon’ble Governor paid a courtesy visit to Hon’ble Chief Minister at Naveen Niwas. He discussed about development of Odisha in details and wished hon’ble CM good health and active life service of the state.”

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik tweeted, “Glad to meet Hon’ble Governor of Odisha. Discussed on various topics concerning Odisha and looking forward to working with him for the welfare of the state and its people.”

Senior Congress leader and former minister Panchananan Kanungo said: “The governor breached the protocol. The chief minister should have called on the Governor at Naveen Niwas but the opposite happened. We suspect that the Governor returned from Delhi with a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and directly wanted to deliver it to Naveen. We want to know what message he delivered to Naveen immediately after meeting Modi.”

Stampede

Around 30 people were injured as a virtual stampede followed when devotees tried to enter the 12th century Puri Shree Jagannath temple on Friday morning.

Puri administration sources said 10 of the injured have been admitted to the Puri district headquarters hospital for treatment.

Thousands of people, including old widows, congregated at the front of the shrine to enter the temple once its door was opened at 6am on Friday.

Almost all of them entered the temple premises, causing a stampede.