There's time for presidential elections, no one has approached us so far: Naveen Patnaik

On a query on the attempts by certain Opposition leaders’ plans to have a united front to take on the BJP, Naveen said the BJD has not looked into it

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made a rare visit to Parliament on Tuesday but did not meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even as he did not open up his mind on the July Presidential polls, saying it is still early days.

Patnaik, whose BJD is fresh from a thumping victory in Odisha civic polls, is on a three-day visit to the national capital that started on Monday. He will leave for Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

In Parliament, Patnaik met with party MPs for a meeting and then went to Central Hall where he met leaders from several parties, including Anand Sharma and Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress.

DMK’s T R Baalu and TKS Elangovan met Patnaik at the BJD office in Parliament and invited him to the inauguration of the DMK’s party office in Delhi on April 2. AIADMK’s M Thambi Durai also met Patnaik.

Patnaik’s visit to Parliament was keenly watched, as there were speculation that his visit to the capital had to do something with the Presidential polls. His repeated response to questions on Presidential polls was that there was still time for the Presidential elections and that the party had not put its thought on the issue.

Interestingly, he did not meet the Prime Minister, though the latter was in the Parliament while Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma met Modi. Patnaik said he was not meeting Modi during this visit.

He said there has been no discussion on the presidential elections and neither the government nor the opposition has approached the BJD over it.

When referred to the BJD holding votes with a value of around 35,000 in the Presidential electoral college and what the party would do, he said, “there is still a lot of time.”

Asked whether he would prefer a consensus candidate, he said, “I haven't given a thought to it. There is time for presidential elections and no one has approached us so far…These are still early days."

On a query on the attempts by certain Opposition leaders’ plans to have a united front to take on the BJP, he said the BJD has not looked into it.

Asked about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s letter to Opposition leaders seeking a joint front against the BJP, Patnaik said he was yet to receive the letter. “We stand for the welfare and development of our state. That’s what our party stands for.”

Watch the latest DH Videos here: