The State unit of the Samajwadi Party has requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to lead a delegation of all political parties to apprise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram about the State’s demand for special category status (SCS). In a letter to the Chief Minister, State unit SP president Rabi Behera said while the demand for the SCS is growing from states such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, Odisha should not lag behind. Behera said the Centre seems to be relenting under pressure from so many States. The SP also requested the Chief Minister to pass an all party resolution in the Assembly in this matter.