Patnaik leaves for New Delhi to attend meet on Naxal-affected states

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Friday left for New Delhi, where he is scheduled to attend a meeting of chief ministers of Naxal-affected states.

The meeting of chief ministers of 10 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) hit states has been convened by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday.

''I will be at attending the meeting on LWE a day after tomorrow, and follow other official works during my stay in Delhi,'' Patnaik said.

Patnaik last visited the national capital in June 2019 to attend a Governing Council Meeting of the NITI Aayog.

He has mostly stayed indoors since the COVID pandemic hit Odisha in March last year.

He limited his public appearances and toured only a few places such as Kalahandi, Sundergarh, Malkangiri, Puri, Cuttack and Bolangir in the last few months after the pandemic situation improved in the state.

Since Patnaik will be in New Delhi, he is unlikely to visit Pipli to campaign for the September 30 bypoll.