Naveen to meet Modi tomorrow over Polavaram, special state issues

Speculation rife about BJD supporting NDA in upper house

Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik will meet Prime Minister, Narendra Modi tomorrow along with his party MPs to discuss state related issues even as speculation is doing rounds that the regional outfit could extend support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling combine has a weak strength.

Patnaik is scheduled to meet Modi at 12:15 PM on Monday and will draw the latter's attention to certain nagging state-related issues requiring Centre's intervention, leaders in Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said. BJD has 20 MPs in Lok Sabha and four MPs in Rajya Sabha.

"We will discuss issues like providing special category state status to Odisha, Bolangir-Khurda rail line, loss to Odisha from Polavaram dam project in Andhra Pradesh and crop insurance scheme for farmers," said Kalikesh Singhdeo, Lok Sabha MP of BJD.

On May 30, Patnaik had written to Modi about providing crop insurance to farmers by paying a low premium. He is also expected to bring that issue up again during the discussion on Monday, sources said.

BJD has been demanding special category state status for Odisha for last one and half decades. It is likely to rake up the issue again with the new government led by Modi at the Centre.

In the meeting tomorrow, Patnaik, along with his party MPs, are likely to record their protest against Centre's recent decision giving go ahead signal to the construction of Polavaram dam in Andhra Pradesh. Odisha and Chhattisgarh have been demanding certain changes in the structure of the proposed dam as they fear submergence of villages in their respective territories if the dam is built with current construction specification.

Though Polavaram row and special category state demand are not new issues, sources say, Patnaik may enter into a bargain deal with the NDA, which is in minority in Rajya Sabha, to get the state's demands fulfilled.

NDA has been wooing political parties with sufficient seats in Rajya Sabha, where it has just 65 members in the 250-member house. Apart from Patnaik, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa is expected to meet the Prime Minister on Tuesday along with her MPs.