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Nine Ministers to meet Sai Baba tomorrow

BHUBANESWAR: Politicians seeking the blessings of religious gurus is not a new phenomenon. Some nine Orissa Ministers are scheduled to meet Sri Sathya Sai Baba at Puttaparthi in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.

The Ministers belonging to both the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party will seek the blessings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba on the pretext of handing him over a letter from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

In his letter, Mr. Patnaik has requested Sri Sathya Sai Baba to set up a hospital in Orissa on the lines of the one that his organisation established at Puttaparthi in order to provide quality healthcare to the people in the State.

The Chief Minister promised Sai Baba all help from the government and also assured him to allot 100 acres of land for the purpose, State Energy Minister Surya Narayan Patro told The Hindu before leaving for Puttaparthi on Sunday.

The other Ministers belonging to the Biju Janata Dal who took a flight to Hyderabad along with Mr. Patro were Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera.

The three other BJD Ministers who were likely to join the team included Women and Child Development Minister Pramila Mallik and Information and Public Relations Minister Debasis Nayak.

Mr. Nayak would leave for Puttaparthi on Monday.

The three BJP Ministers who would also join the meeting on Tuesday included Industry and Law Minister Biswabhushan Harichandan, Higher Education Minister Samir Dey and Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal.

The visit of the leader to Puttaparthi, however, has baffled many in the State’s political circles. Why so many Ministers need to meet the Baba to request for the setting up of a hospital?

Many are of the view that politicians are apparently trying to seek the blessings of the Baba to brighten the poll prospects of their respective parties much ahead of the polls.

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Nine Ministers to meet Sai Baba tomorrow

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