PM Narendra Modi opens land acquisition bill channel with Naveen Patnaik

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi has reached out to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik with a promise to address the concerns of the state government as he seeks to enlist the support of regional parties for the land acquisition bill.

Sources said Modi promised Patnaik that the Centre would look into the grievances of Odisha. The meeting was part of the larger outreach to CMs of regional parties, and coincided with Modi's interaction with Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee where he praised her efforts to boost revenue collection. The government has also accommodated the changes suggested by BJD in the land acquisition bill.

With Congress sticking to its opposition to the land bill and other reforms legislations, the Modi government is wooing regional parties in order to make up for the numbers it lacks in the Rajya Sabha.

Sources said BJP has also approached SP , AIADMK, JD(U), BSP and NCP as part of the diplomatic offensive and expressed satisfaction with the response. Considerable significance is also attached to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's statement on Monday that he would not hesitate to knock on the PM's door for the sake of the state's development.

Although the “unitary“ bias in the polity requires CMs to approach the Centre despite differences, Kumar's case stands on a separate footing considering that he walked out of NDA in protest against Modi's candidature for PM. Kumar is expected to meet Modi after he secures the trust vote on Wednesday and after the PM's return from his three-nation foreign trip on Saturday.

Modi has backed up his bid for support from regional parties by highlighting higher devolution of resources to the states because of the implementation of the Finance Commission's recommendations as well as the Centre's decision to share with states a larger share of the returns from allocation of coal blocks.