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Bhubaneswar, Dec. 29: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik today said expelled party leader and Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra’s dream of becoming the chief minister will remain just that.
“The future will tell but his dream to become the chief minister is an extremely remote one,” Naveen said after returning from a four-day trip to New Delhi.
Mohapatra, at a meeting of his political outfit, Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM), had declared that he was ready to accept the chief minister’s job if people wanted him to take up that responsibility. He had added that half of the BJD would switch over to his Morcha in the next three months.
“If the people wish, then I am ready to be the chief minister,” said Mohapatra addressing a 30,000-strong gathering at Baripada, leaving no one in doubt about his ambitions.
Naveen also made it clear that the OJM would pose no challenge to the BJD, which is in the saddle for the third consecutive term and eyeing a fourth term. “With the blessings of the people, the BJD will surge ahead in 2013,” he said.
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