Chief minister Naveen Patnaik pays floral tribute at his father Biju Patnaik’s samadhi at Swargadwar in Puri on Wednesday. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, April 17: Odisha chief minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik today said his government was committed to fulfil the dreams of late Biju Patnaik.

“The party is working on the ideals of Biju babu. All efforts are being made for the overall development of the state. The Odisha government is initiating steps to take the fruits of the development to the poor,” said Naveen.

He was speaking at a meeting at the party office to commemorate the 16th death anniversary of former chief minister of Odisha and his father Biju Patnaik.

Without mentioning the Centre, he said his party would continue to protest against the negligence and discrimination against Odisha. He said his party and the Odisha government was striving hard to realise the goals of Biju babu, especially to uplift the poor.

The chief minister took the centre stage while conducting the meeting at the party office to commemorate the death anniversary. He also visited Swargadwara (cremation ground) in Puri to pay respect to his late father.

All the leaders, who spoke on the occasion, had taken a cautious path and did not talk about the expelled leader Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, who had led an unsuccessful coup attempt against the chief minister in last May.

The speakers at the meeting recalled Biju babu’s contribution to the development of Odisha.

Senior leaders, including Damodar Rout, Prafulla Ghadei, A.U. Singh Deo, Prasanna Patasani, Kalindi Charan Behera and Odisha planning board chairman Surendranath Nayak spoke about the late leader’s contributions to Odisha’s development and their association with him.

Naveen garlanded the statue of the legendary leader on the Assembly premises. Meetings were organised in various places, including Anand Bhavan in Cuttack, to mark the occasion.

Later in the evening, a state-level function was organised at Jayadev Bhavan. Addressing the gathering, Naveen said that in the past 13 years, the BJD government had launched several new programmes for the welfare of almost every section of the society, including tribals, Dalits, senior citizens, students, youths and women.

He also emphasised on the steps taken for rural development, industrialisation, development in agriculture and basic infrastructure. “The Odisha government has brought out a special budget for farmers and the farming sector,” he said.

Stating that the Odisha government was committed towards the overall development of youths, who constitute a major share of Odisha’s population, Naveen said his government had recently formulated a new youth policy for their empowerment, employment and education, apart from development of their entrepreneurial abilities.