Bhubaneswar: BJD leader VK Pandian has gone to Delhi as per the instruction of party president Naveen Patnaik, said the regional party’s national spokesperson Sasmit Patra today.

The bureaucrat-turned-politician has gone to the national capital for some work, added Patra at a presser here.

The BJD spokesperson made this revelation after a section of print and electronic media reported that Pandian, the trusted aide of BJD supremo, was ‘untraceable’ following the dismal performance of the regional party in the just concluded Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha.

The media reports came in the wake of Pandian’s conspicuous absence at the office of the outgoing Chief Minister and BJD meetings ever since the declaration of the poll results.

Pandian, who used to accompany the outgoing Chief Minister to wherever he visits, was not seen with the latter when he went to the Governor’s House yesterday to tender his resignation following the poll debacle.

Pandian was also absent in two successive BJD meetings at the residence of the outgoing Chief Minister yesterday.

“Our leader VK Pandian is on a tour to Delhi on some work as per the instruction of BJD president Naveen Patnaik. A section of media is publishing baseless and distasteful news about Pandian’s Delhi tour. We urge the concerned media to refrain from publishing such news. Leaders of a political party are not supposed to inform the media about to their tour to anywhere,” said Patra.