After Andhra and Bihar, BJD to demand 'special category status' for Odisha: 'Fighting for it for many years'

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which lost power in Odisha, has put out a list of demands it will make from the Centre during the next five years. On Monday, the Biju Janata Dal Parliamentary Party meeting was chaired by party President Naveen Patnaik. The meeting was attended by all the nine Rajya Sabha MPs. 

Addressing the BJD Parliamentary Party, Patnaik said, "Be the voice of 4.5 crore people of Odisha in the Parliament. We will be a very strong and vibrant opposition and will make the Centre accountable on all issues. The BJD MPs will raise all the issues pertaining to the state's development and the welfare of the people of Odisha. Many just and rightful demands of Odisha haven't been met. We must ensure that those demands are met in right earnest by the Centre." 

The BJD said that its Parliamentary party deliberated on the various demands that had been pending for Odisha. "It was decided that the BJD would take up the long-standing demand for Special Category State for Odisha," the party said, adding it has been fighting for it over the past many years.

"The State has been facing natural disasters and needs to be accorded Special Category State. In fact, Odisha BJP had also specified it in its election manifesto in 2014 but did not do it." 

Odisha is the third state - after Bihar and Andhra Pradesh - to demand special category status from the Centre. The special category status issue cropped up once again after the BJP failed to get a majority and had to rely on two allies, JDU and TDP. While TDP and JDU have so far not spoken about it, there is buzz that both parties may settle with some kind of financial package for their respective states.   

Besides special status demand, the BJD, which ruled Odisha for uninterrupted 24 years, urged the Centre to work on the National Highways in the state. "Massive delays in NH (National Highway) projects in Odisha and poor NH maintenance. NH projects like the Cuttack-Sambalpur National Highway are causing great pain to the people. No work has started on Coastal Highway for the past ten years. It could have helped the economic development of Odisha but sadly nothing has happened." 

The party said that if the Odisha Capital Region Ring Road near the capital city of Bhubaneswar had been done, the capital region would have grown more rapidly with it but there is no development in this regard despite our repeated demands. "The BJD MPs would raise the demand for completion of all these incomplete National Highway works."

The BJD has so far backed the NDA government at the Centre on almost all issues. This time, however, the party does not have any MP in the Lower House even though it has 9 MPs in the Upper House.  

Naveen Patnaik-led party said that it has been demanding to provide for PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) houses for the last many years. It claimed that more than 15 lakh houses were blocked for the past ten years. "It is going to demand to provide at least 20 lakh PMAY houses in first instance to Odisha." 
The BJD will also demand the establishment of Kendriya Vidyalayas in each Block of Odisha as well as the establishment of Eklavya Schools in blocks that have scheduled castes and tribal populations. 

On health, the BJD will demand the establishment of full-fledged AIIMS Hospitals in Sambalpur, Koraput and Balasore (not satellite units) like it has been established in Bhubaneswar addressing the needs of the north, western and southern regions of Odisha.

For the youth, the opposition party would demand the setting up of IT Park, Semiconductor Park, MSME Park, Textiles Park and Industrial Corridor for providing employment to the youth of Odisha. 

For tribal Development, it would demand for inclusion of 162 communities in the ST list of Odisha which is pending with the Centre. This delay is depriving 162 communities of Odisha of the benefits of STS. BJD has been demanding for many years but sadly these communities haven't been added, it said. 

For better connectivity, the BJD would demand ensuring connectivity to all districts of Odisha by Railways and increasing its coverage. Further, there is a need to establish Brick and brick-and-mortar banks in each Gram Panchayat of Odisha to ensure the financial inclusion of the 4.5 crore people of Odisha. 

The BJD suffered a massive defeat in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections, both were held simultaneously. The BJP came to power for the first time in the state and won a maximum of 20 of 21 Lok Sabha seats.