Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday asserted that he believes in constructive cooperation with the Centre for state's interest, seeking to scotch growing notions about his bonhomie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a bitter poll campaign.
Patnaik also spoke for the first time in public about the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), headed by him, had strongly backed the move in Parliament.
"We always believe in constructive cooperation with the central government. We support whatever is constructive and creative," he said during an interactive session at a literary festival here. "We expect their (Centre's) help in the state."
Patnaik's assertion about extending constructive cooperation to the Centre has come after both the BJD and the BJP fought a bitter battle marked by trading of charges in the run up to the Lok Sabha election.
BJD's support to a host of measures including triple talaq bill, revocation of Article 370 and also support to BJP candidate Ashwini Vaishnav in Rajya Sabha elections gave credence to notions about a Naveen-Modi bonhomie.
The chief minister said he believed that the decision to revoke provisions of Article 370, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, would bring about more development in the valley.
On Article 370, Patnaik said there has been a debate on the issue for a long time and he believes that along the Pakistan border, one should see great development, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. "We seem to be on that path," he said.
To a query about his successor, Patnaik said people of the state will choose the successor at the right time and he does not believe in naming any successor.
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Asked about his government's decisions like abolition of guard of honour and renaming the state secretariat, Patnaik said the guard of honour was a legacy of colonial raj, while the secretariat was named Lok Seva bhawan to show that his is a people-centric government.
Patnaik said the hard work of his team of officers, MLAs and others have played a major role for his success and development of the state.
He also referred to initiatives like five Ts (transparency, teamwork, technology, time and transformation) model of governance and "Mo Sarkar" (My Government) for making the government accountable and responsive.
Speaking on investments being made in the sports sector, the chief minister said investment in sports is "investment in youth and investment in youth is investment in future. We hope that Odisha in future will produce sportspersons of Olympics standard", he said.
Patnaik also stated that Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli happens to be his favourite sportsperson.
Asked whether he will write an autobiography as he has already authored three books, Patnaik said he has not given it a thought though he had written three books before entering politics. He said he will think about it after retirement from politics.
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