BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will leave on a three-day visit to New Delhi on Monday. Sources in the CMO said that he is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 4.30 pm. He will return on June 1.
It is expected that the two leaders will discuss the forthcoming presidential election. The President’s election is expected to be held in July to decide the successor of Ram Nath Kovind, who will complete his term on July 24, 2022. However, BJD sources were tight-lipped on Naveen’s meeting with Modi.
The Chief Minister will be visiting New Delhi for the third time in two months. He was in the national capital for five days between April 29 and May 3 to attend the joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts. He had also visited Delhi during the budget session of Parliament and interacted with the party MPs during his three-day stay in New Delhi in March.
However, the Chief Minister will be absent from the filing of nomination papers by the BJD Rajya Sabha candidates on May 31. This is for the first time that Naveen will not be present with the candidates during the filing of nomination papers.
The candidates will file their nomination papers in the presence of organisational secretary of the party Pranab Prakash Das. It is also for the first time that Das has signed the letter from the BJD announcing the candidates for the four Rajya Sabha seats from the State.