Bhubaneswar, Sep 24: Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Sunday heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and appreciated his “steps to eradicate corruption”.
Patnaik was participating in an interactive session at the Odisha Literary Festival organised here by The New Indian Express group.
Rating the Modi government “8 out of 10”, Patnaik hailed the Centre’s foreign policy and work towards eradication of corruption.
“I rate the Modi government 8 out of 10 because of what he has done for foreign policy and also in various other matters… also there has been less corruption in this (BJP) government,” Patnaik said.
Replying to a question on the Women’s Reservation Bill, Patnaik said: “I think it’s a very important step. My party has always supported women empowerment. My father (ex-CM Biju Patnaik) had reserved 33 per cent of the seats for women in local elections, and I increased it to 50 per cent.” Patnaik said his party had fielded women candidates in 33 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats in Odisha in the 2019 polls.
The BJD president also supported ‘one nation, one election’, saying, “We have always welcomed it, we are prepared for it.”
Asked about his government’s relationship with the Centre, Patnaik said, “We have a cordial relationship with the Centre. Naturally, we want the development of our state and it’s important to have the Union government’s partnership in the development.” Patnaik said politics “need not be dirty” as it can be a great platform for serving the people.
He said the Odisha government has been dedicatedly working towards eradication of poverty and all-round development of the state. (PTI)
