Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday paid glowing tributes to Biju Patnaik on his 19th death anniversary at the latter’s Samadhi at Swargadwar here.
The CM along with his BJD colleagues visited the memorial and paid floral tributes to the departed leader.
‘Today on Biju Babu’s Shraddha Divas, all of us should remember the hard work he did and how he wanted the people of Odisha to work hard for development of the State,’ the CM said.
Puri MP Pinaki Mishra and MlA Maheswar Mohanty, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani and Kakatpur MlA Surendra Sethi were present.
later in the day, the CM inaugurated a photo exhibition organised by the I&PR Department on the life and times of Biju Patnaik at Town Hall here.
He also inaugurated a Jiban Bindu blood donation programme held at the Gopabandhu Ayurveda Mahavidyala premises here.
Security arrangements were tightened in the town with six platoons police force being deployed and metal detectors installed at various locations to detect any suspicious object.
Prior to the CM’s visit to the Biju memorial, Kendrapada MP Baijayant Panda went to the Swargadwar and paid tributes to Bijubabu.
Several functions were organised across the State to mark the day.
On the other hand, Congress activists opposed the CM’s visit to Puri and staged a demonstration in front of the Town Hall. At least eight activists were detained and later released by police.