Naveen Patnaik met Prime Minister

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was very ‘positive’ about the various demands of Odisha during his meeting this afternoon.

Re-iterating the long-standing demand of Special Category Status for Odisha, Naveen and party MPs put forth a series of demands including revision of mineral royalty and a hold on Polavaram project.

Besides, the BJD supremo accompanied by 24 party MPs also demanded Rs 1,397 cr as special central assistance for ‘Nabakalebar’ of Lord Jagannath to be held in 2015. He drew the attention of PM for State’s demand to include Sambalpuri, Koshali & Ho languages of Odisha in the 8th schedule of the constitution.

Asked about the possibility of the BJD supporting the NDA government at the Centre, Patnaik said there had been no discussion or thought about that yet. But he hastened to add that his government will have a ‘positive and constructive’ attitude towards the Modi government.

“Our approach will be constructive and positive towards the government at the Centre,” he said.

Patnaik said the question of supporting NDA in the Rajya Sabha, where it does not have a majority, did not come up for discussion during his meeting with the Prime Minister.

Raising the controversial Polavaram project, Patnaik appealed to Modi to stop construction of the river project which would submerge parts of Malkangiri district.

“We demanded to recognize the genuine concerns of Odisha on submergence and flooding of Malkangiri and to hold the Polavaram project,” the CM said.

He also demanded early commencement of international flight operation to and from Bhubaneswar.