New Delhi: The Biju Janata Dal will on Wednesday push the Centre to grant a special category status to Odisha. The party is holding a 'Swabhiman Samabesh' at the Ramlila Maidan on Wednesday, which will be a culmination of the BJD's 'Swabhiman Yatra'.
The campaign for a special status has managed to get the support of 1 crore signatories. BJD chief Naveen Patnaik will also be present at the rally. The BJD claims that despite making rapid progress on several fronts, Odisha still does not fare well on many socio-economic indicators.
Speaking to CNN-IBN, BJD MP Baijayant Panda also said that the demand for a special status for Odisha is not new. Following is the transcript of Baijayant Panda's interview:
Baijayant Panda: We have been keeping up the demand for many decades, right from the days when the late Biju Patnaik first articulated this. Naveen Patnaik as Chief Minister has articulated this many many times. The state assembly has passed an all-party unanimous resolution on this and the demands have been submitted to the Prime Minister, to the government many many times. So we are not following anyone. Yes it is true that we are asserting our presence because this has been going on for many many decades. As we have been saying, whether you introduce a new criteria or not for special category states, the fact is that under the existing criteria which has been there for five decades, we qualify. We have a
10:18 AM, Jun 12, 2013
New Delhi: As the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party battle it out over the coal scam and internal crisis, Third Front leaders are stepping up. Speaking to IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told CNN-IBN that both Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi don't make the prime ministerial cut and that the Third Front's time has come. "Let me make it quite...
03:48 PM, Jun 11, 2013
New Delhi: Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday accused the Centre of playing politics in fund allocations to states and neglecting Odisha's long pending demand for special category status. "Getting special category status is the genuine rights of the state. It is not a mercy, but the right (of the state). The state deserves the special category status as it fulfils all the criteria...," BJD vice-president and state...
12:57 AM, Jun 11, 2013
Bhubaneswar: With investors across Odisha demanding action against the chit fund companies which duped them of crores of rupees, opposition BJP and Congress on Friday respectively demanded judicial probe and CBI investigation into the matter. "As one chief of an accused chit fund company has said that some ministers and MLAs are hand-in-glove with him to cheat people, the government must reveal their names and announce a judicial probe into...
11:01 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: The Congress on Monday appointed Jayadev Jena and Sukhdeo Bhagat as new state unit chiefs of Odisha and Jharkhand, respectively, said a party statement. According to a statement issued by Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi, Jena will replace Niranjan Patnaik as chief of the party's Odisha unit. Jena is a former legislator. The state ruled by Biju Janata Dal will have assembly polls in 2014. Bhagat will replace...
05:41 AM, May 14, 2013
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's former political advisor and Rajya Sabha MP Pyarimohan Mohapatra launched his political party, Odisha Janamorcha on Tuesday. Mohapatra had allegedly tried to topple the Patnaik government in May 2012 but had failed and was expelled from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Earlier in January, stepping up his attack on the Patnaik government, the expelled leader had threatened to expose corruption in Odisha's coal sector....
09:49 AM, Apr 09, 2013
Footage of a man protesting the Posco steel plant being beaten by a government land officer in Odisha has triggered outrage with activists and politicians on February 5 demanding strong action against the culprit. Sangram Mohapatra, a land officer with the state-run Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO), was seen mercilessly beating a protestor with a stick on February 3 near Jagatsinghpur district's Gobindpur village, about 100 km from here....
05:54 PM, Feb 05, 2013
Bhubaneswar: A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pushed for a front of regional parties, her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik on Thursday described the proposal as too early. "About Mamata Banerjee's proposal, it is still early days for the third front in our country... it's early days," Patnaik told reporters replying to a question on the TMC chief's wish to form a front of regional parties. Patnaik had,...
04:38 PM, Sep 27, 2012
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Police on Saturday filed a case against state Congress in-charge Jagdish Tytler for the mob violence outside the Assembly on Thursday. Tytler and six others were booked for attempt to murder, rioting and damage to public property. The police has arrested 34 people so far in connection with the protests. The FIRs were filed after the lady constable who was attacked during the violence claimed that Tytler...
10:39 AM, Sep 08, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Pandemonium rocked the Odisha Assembly on Friday as Congress MLAs raised a furore over the action taken against party workers by the police as they protested outside the Assembly a day earlier over coal blocks allocations. The state Congress has been demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, saying he recommended people for the coal blocks allocations. In the Assembly, the Congress MLAs said the Biju Janata Dal...
11:22 AM, Sep 07, 2012
New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party (SP), the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Left have joined hands in their protest against the coal blocks allocations, thus sending feelers of the emergence of a Third Front. The parties are expected to protest over the issue at Parliament Gate on Friday. Sources say that the parties have also reached out to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and are in talks with other...
09:40 AM, Aug 31, 2012
New Delhi: 6.00 pm: Counting of votes for the Vice Presidential elections begins. 3.30 pm: As many as 600 electors from an effective electoral college of 787 members of Parliament had cast their vote by 1 pm, Hamid Ansari's election agent and senior advocate Pravin Parekh said. 2.30 pm: Brisk polling witnessed in the Vice Presidential poll. 11.00 am: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi cast their...
10:20 AM, Aug 07, 2012
New Delhi: The NDA's Presidential candidate PA Sangma said on Thursday that he was grateful to the BJP, the BJD and other coalition allies for their support to him. Addressing a press conference, the former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader said that his nomination, to be filed today, would be sponsored by the Tribal Forum of India, nominated by the Biju Janata Dal and backed by the BJP and other...
01:21 PM, Jun 28, 2012
BJP-backed Presidential nominee and former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader PA Sangma has said that he believes that although he may not have the numbers as yet, God is with him and that he will win the election by a miracle. Speaking on Devil's Advocate with Karan Thapar, the leader from the North-East said that his desire to be a part of the Presidential race stemmed from his desire to...
07:04 PM, Jun 24, 2012
New Delhi: Making it clear that it is firmly behind UPA candidate in the Presidential race, the Nationalist Congress Party has told former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma not to press for his candidature in the polls. The advice was given to Sangma by party General Secretary DP Triparthi under instructions from party chief Sharad Pawar. After meeting Sangma, Tripathi said, "I went to him (Sangma) and told him that...
12:05 PM, Jun 15, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Suspended rebel Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra on Monday accused Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of shielding politicians involved in the mining scam though he (Naveen) was not personally involved in any scam. "The Chief Minister did not allow state vigilance to begin persecution against certain politicians allegedly involved in mining scam. I had requested the chief minister several times to allow the vigilance...
09:56 PM, Jun 04, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Striking hard at those who allegedly plotted an unsuccessful coup against him, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday sacked a third minister amid speculation that more heads are likely to roll soon. Housing and Urban Development Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak was shown the door three days after Patnaik dismissed two other ministers Anjali Behera and Sanjeev Sahu for allegedly conspiring to topple his government. "I have forwarded a...
07:26 PM, Jun 04, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Coming down heavily on the rebels in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday suspended Lok Sabha MP Pyari Mohan Mahapatra, two ministers and two MLAs from the party. The ministers who have been suspended from the party are Anjali Behera and Sanjeev Sahoo. On Tuesday, more than 25 BJD MLAs and four ministers had met Patnaik's rival Mahapatra at his residence in Bhubaneswar...
06:48 PM, Jun 01, 2012
Bhubaneswar: BJD MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra on Wednesday claimed that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was encircled by a group of conspirators comprising ministers, parliamentarians and MLAs who were trying to topple his government. "The conspirators comprising, ministers, MPs and MLAs want to topple Patnaik in order to fulfil their vested interests," he claimed but declined to name them. "The group of conspirators are misleading the chief minister. They feel...
10:41 PM, May 30, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra on Wednesday dismissed reports of any split within the party and said that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik continues to be the party leader. BJD MP Jay Panda also said that there was no rebellion within the BJD. "We have had a lot of discussions earlier. There is no dissidence in the party. Grievances have increased because the party organisation is...
10:20 AM, May 30, 2012
