Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi an ‘8 out of 10’ rating for his government’s performance, especially in foreign policy and rooting out corruption in the country. CM Patnaik said Odisha has cordial relations with the centre and wants it as a partner in the development of his state.
CM Patnaik was speaking at the Odisha Literary Festival organised by the New Indian Express Group in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. He participated in an interactive session where he answered various questions on politics, governance and literature.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Image: ANI)
He expressed his support for the Women’s Reservation Bill and said that his party had always been there for the empowerment of women. He cited the examples of reserving seats for women in local elections and the Mission Shakti programme that involved 7 million women.
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"I think it very important step, my party has always been there for the development of women, my father began it by reserving 33 per cent of the seats in the local elections, we have increased that to 50 per cent and recently in last elections we reserved 33 per cent of our seats for women in parliamentary elections.," CM Patnaik said as quoted by news agency ANI.
"Also we have a great programme called Mission Shakti in which 7 million of our women are involved for the empowerment of women, economically and in other ways," he added as reported by ANI, expressing his support for Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam that was recently passed in the special session of Parliament.
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On the issue of “One Nation One Election”, CM Patnaik said he welcomed the idea and he and his party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) were always prepared for simultaneous elections for both state and central bodies.