Sasmit demands Special Category State Status for Odisha
Bhubaneswar: Senior Biju Janata Dal leader and MP Sasmit Patra on Thursday reiterated the party’s demand for special category State status to Odisha. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Patra also alleged that Odisha has been neglected again by the Centre in the Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26.
“I stand here today not just as a representative of Odisha, but as the voice of a State that has been abandoned by this Union Budget! This is not just neglect—this is an affront to four and a half crore people of Odisha!,” alleged Patra.
Targeting the ruling BJP, the BJD Rajya Sabha member further said the Odisha BJP, in its 2014 election manifesto, promised special category status for Odisha. “Eleven years later, where is that promise? Where is that status? Where is the justice?” asked Patra.
He said the Biju Janata Dal and its supremo Naveen Patnaik have been constantly demanding special category status for Odisha over the past two decades. The Rajya Sabha member also noted that the four and a half crore people of Odisha are hopeful that the State will be provided special category status but it hasn’t happened so far in this Budget.
