Naveen Patnaik meets PM Modi, seeks special category status to the state

New Delhi: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

He met the PM days after being sworn in as the chief minister of the state for the fifth consecutive term.

The Prime Minister's Office tweeted a picture of the two leaders meeting here.

"I congratulated him on his



electoral victory, I also requested him for special category status for Odisha as we've been hit by a cyclone recently, which did a great deal of damage," Patnaik said.

The Biju Janata Dal, which secured 112 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly in the recently concluded elections, has been in power in the state since 2000 and Patnaik elected as CM in all the terms.