Naveen Patnaik meets Atal Bihari Vajpayee, inquires about health

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today met former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his Krishna Menon Marg residence in New Delhi.

Rubbishing speculations over political significance behind his visit, Patnaik said that it was a courtesy call. He spent about 15 minutes with the former Prime Minister.

“There is no political significance behind my visit. I just made a courtesy call on Vajpayeeji to inquire about his health. As you know I was a Cabinet Minister in his Central government. The people of Odisha always remember Vajpayeeji,” said Patnaik talking to reporters after visiting the ailing former Prime Minister.

It should be noted that CM Naveen Patnaik is on five days tour to Delhi. He attended the NITI Aayog meeting on Sunday at New Delhi.

Patnaik on Sunday reiterated his demand to accord Special Category State (SCS) status to Odisha as it still has a high percentage of BPL population, most of which belong to SC and ST categories, requiring higher Central fund transfers.

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