BJD MPs on Wednesday staged a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Parliament premises in New Delhi demanding Special Category State (SCS) status for Odisha.
“The Centre’s continued apathetic attitude towards the cause of Odisha will not be tolerated,” said Rajya Sabha member Rabi Mohapatra.
They were also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Finance Minister. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had in a letter on Tuesday sought intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the issue, saying the criteria fixed for SCS status by the Planning Commission are “superficial”.