Berhampur, Jan. 29: Cutting across party lines, 78 former councillors have resolved to work in unison for getting a smart city tag.

"Development is possible only if all the people's representatives cutting across party lines make a united effort," said city MLA Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik, who presided over the meeting of former civic leaders of Berhampur Municipal Corporation at Uttareswar Bhavan in Gosaninuagaon here recently.

Chau Patnaik said that Berhampur met all the criteria to become a smart city.

Bhubaneswar and Rourk-ela are the only two cities from the state to have made it to the list of smart cities.

Earlier, the residents of Berhampur had also demanded smart city tag following which the state government had recommended Berhampur's name to the central government for the smart city tag.

Former chairman of Berhampur Municipality P. Bhimudu said it was for the first time that city leaders had come on one platform.

"We must have more such meetings for concrete development of Berhampur. We have to discuss our problems and solve it accordingly beyond the contours of party politics," he said.

Former Union minister Chandra Sekhar Sahu, former minister Surya Narayan Patro, Berhampur Development Authority chairman Subash Maharana, Berhampur Central Cooperative Bank president Alekh Chowdhury, former MLA Siba Shankar Sahani and Congress leader Bhagaban Gantayat attended the meeting.<>