Odisha CM Patnaik leads rally to Delhi demanding special status

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today brought his struggle for special status to his state to the national capital, with his party, the Biju Janata Dal, holding a 'Swabhiman Samabesh' at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, which is the culmination of its 'Swabhiman Yatra'.

The BJD claims that despite making rapid progress on several fronts, Odisha still does not fare well on many socio-economic indicators, and hence needs special status.

"It has been a very long-standing demand of Odisha. Historically, Odisha has been neglected by the central governments. We give vast revenues to the railways but we hardly get any railways allocation in comparison. There are many other issues," Patnaik said on TV ahead of the rally.

He said that the central government has been granting funds to other states but not to Odisha. "The central government has been granting vast funds for political reasons to states like Bihar, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, but the Planning Commission very recently rejected Odisha's demand. I have no objection to any part of India getting funds, but I think it's constitutionally incorrect to give it on these blatant political grounds," Patnaik said.

The chief minister said that he has got the signatures of nearly one crore people and these will be submitted to the President in the evening along with a memorandum demanding special status for Odisha.

Union minister Srikant Jena however said Patnaik wanted to take political credit for a decision that has already been announced by the union finance minister.

"When Patnaik was a union minister in the Vajpayee government, he had raised this issue. But the central government rejected his demand. He did not say anything then. But now, he has again raised this issue, that too at a time when the finance minister has assured there will be change in criteria for special status for states," Jena told NDTV.

In March, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar held a rally in Delhi demanding special status for his state. In the rally attended by thousands, Kumar had given the central government a tough warning signalling that no political combination should think of ruling Delhi after the 2014 elections if it ignored Bihar's rights.

After Kumar's rally, the government set up a high-level sub-committee to finalise the new criteria for "backwardness."

The committee has been asked to submit its report in a month's time. The special status will entitle states to loans and assistance from the Centre and tax waivers for industry set u