Oppn seeks CM’s comment on special category status

Bhubaneswar: The BJD and the Congress on Tuesday asked Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to inform the Assembly whether he demanded special category status for the State at the recent NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi.

The Opposition parties raised the issue in the House a day after Majhi returned to the State from the national capital.During the Zero Hour in the Assembly, senior BJD MLA and former minister Arun Kumar Sahoo said the Chief Minister should inform the House whether he demanded the “special category status or the special focus State tag or any special allocation of funds for Odisha” at the Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog.

Majhi, along with Odisha Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, had attended the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on July 27. Noting that the BJP, in its election manifesto in 2014, had promised the special category status for Odisha, Sahoo said, “The Chief Minister should inform the House whether he made the same demand during the NITI Aayog meeting.”The BJD leader said though the Centre had earlier rejected the State’s demand for the special category status based on a committee report, it recently provided special allocations of funds to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.

“Odisha BJP has sent 20 MPs to the Lok Sabha, and the State should be reciprocated with special attention. The 20 MPs helped the BJP form government at the Centre.

The people have also changed the government in Odisha by voting in favour of the saffron party. Therefore, the State should get the attention of the Centre,” he said.

Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam also said the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre should provide special category status to the State since it formed the “double-engine sarkar” in Odisha.

The term “double-engine” is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a State.

While justifying Odisha’s demand, Kadam said there are two factors - tribals, Dalits, and OBCs are a majority in the State and the coastal State faces natural disasters frequently.”Therefore, the State should get the special category status. Odisha should not be deprived of its rights,” he said.

The Congress member, CS Razan Ekka, said the Chief Minister should inform the House on the demand for the special category status for Odisha.The coastal State should get a special allocation of funds as it witnesses frequent floods and cyclones, the legislator said.The Congress MLA also raised the Mahanadi water dispute with the neighbouring Chhattisgarh.