BJD chief Naveen Patnaik at the party’s state council meeting in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Picture by Sanjeeb Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 9: The BJD today sought to whip up regional passions by demanding “financial autonomy” for the state and also 50 per cent royalty from all minerals extracted from here.

At its state executive committee meeting today, the party passed resolution criticising the Centre for becoming a stumbling bloc in the state’s progress. The state remained backward despite having rich mineral, forest and water resources. It recalled late Biju Patnaik’s statement that if the state were given “financial autonomy” it would “emerge as one of the most developed states not only in India but also in Asia”.

The meeting, chaired by BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik, also said that its MPs would raise the issue of having more Centre-run public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the state.

Naveen today officially asserted that there was no other power centre in the party except him and the party would intensify its agitation against the Centre to achieve financial autonomy independence for the state.

While all the leaders, including the seniors, sat in rows, Naveen alone sat on the dais in the state executive meet. The party claimed that the state had progressed only due to the efforts of late Biju Patnaik and his son Naveen during their regimes. In its political resolution, the party said that the Centre had been using forest laws as “a weapon” against the state in its industrial progress. Though the Centre receives a lot from the state, when it comes to providing assistance in case of natural calamities, the Centre adopts “partisan” attitude. There was a “conspiracy” by the Centre to stop all ongoing projects in the undivided Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) areas, said the party.

The meeting put its stamp of approval on the proposal that the party would have no working president or a secretary general.

It was a clear signal that the party would not have an alternative power centre in the organisation. It decided to revive the party’s political affairs committee. Naveen will head the 11-member committee. The party will have nine vice-presidents as against five now. Moreover, there will be 10 general secretaries, 10 secretaries and one treasurer.

The state executive also amended the party’s constitution. It incorporated a provision that the party would follow the ideals of Biju Patnaik, Mahatma Gandhi and Jay Prakash Narain.

The term of organisational elections would be three years instead of two years now.

In a major decision, the party decided to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the party structure. The party would launch a drive to enrol at least one member from 80 lakh families in the state from January 17.

In his brief address, Naveen criticised the Centre for adopting an “apathetic attitude towards the cause of Orissa”.