Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik with PM Narendra Modi. (News18)
On elections, Patnaik said that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will go solo in next year’s Lok Sabha polls as it has always done.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is on a four-day visit to New Delhi, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
Patnaik said that the state’s demands and the upcoming international airport in Puri dominated the discussions. The chief minister also put forth four demands during the meeting.
“Discussions were mainly related to Odisha’s demands. I spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about Shree Jagnnath international airport in Puri. The boundary is already been earmark to the airport. Bhubaneswar is getting too much traffic jam and we need expansion and the prime Minister said he would help. there were no political discussions,” Patnaik said.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Patnaik highlighted there was no possibility of a third front. “There is no possibility of a ‘third front’ as far as I am concerned,” he said.
Patnaik said that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will go solo in next year’s Lok Sabha polls as it has always done.
Demands raised during meeting
The site clearance for Puri Airport (SJIA) from Ministry of Civil Aviation is pending since September, 2022. It is requested that the same may be expedited, he said.
He also requested the PM to include Odisha in Bharat Net Phase-II. And the needed steps to complete all National Highway projects in Odisha.
The leader also sought PM’s intervention for opening more bank branches in rural areas of the state. As of now, only 2,844 panchayats, out of the total 6,798, having banking facilities in Odisha.
The meeting comes after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Patnaik at his residence in Bhubaneswar on May 9.
Before this, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had met Naveen met in Bhubaneswar on March 23.