New Delhi: Ahead of the Budget session of Parliament, the BJD today demanded special category status (SCS) for Odisha.
The demand for special category status for Odisha was raised by BJD Rajya Sabha leader Sasmit Patra during an all-party meeting held here.
In a post on X, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who was present at the meeting, said, “How the political climate has changed! In the all-party meeting of floor leaders the BJD leader reminded the Defence Minister and BJP President JP Nadda that the BJP’s manifesto for the 2014 assembly elections in Odisha had promised special category status to the state.”
Dr.Patra told reporters that his party demanded special category status for Odisha.
“Odisha has been deprived of the special category status for more than two decades. The BJD has been demanding it for a long time. Parties from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have also demanded it and the Centre must revisit the issue with such demands coming from various states,” he said.
Asked about his party’s political alignment, Dr.Patra said the BJD is neither with the BJP nor the INDIA bloc and will continue to maintain its independence.
He noted that his party’s MPs entered the Rajya Sabha’s Well for the first time in over 25 years and then walked out during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address before the INDIA bloc as Odisha’s interests were neglected by the government.
Dr.Patra flagged the declining share of states in the divisible pool and non-revision of coal royalties for Odisha for the past 10 years among a host of other issues.
He said he brought to the notice of BJP president J P Nadda, who was present in the all-party meeting, the lack of action against Odisha Governor Raghubar Das’ son Lalit Kumar, accused of assaulting a Raj Bhavan staffer.
Shri Das, official sources have said, had met the victim and his wife, who raised the issue publicly, and assured them of action. Patra, however, said police have not even questioned Kumar who seems to be “above the law”.
“We raised the issue in the all-party meeting and will take it up in Parliament too,” the BJD leader said.
The BJD has also raised the non-revision of coal royalty for the State.