A tribal should occupy Raisina Hill: Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, June 21 (IANS) Welcoming the Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to support former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma's candidature in the presidential poll, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday said a tribal should go to the Raisina Hill.

Patnaik who was the first to announce the name of Sangma two months ago, said other political parties should also come forward and extend their support to him in the July 19 poll.

"After so many decades of India's independence, a tribal should go to the Raisina Hill. All parties should support Sangma," Patnaik told reporters in the temple town of Puri, about 56 km here, where he had gone to witness the chariot festival of Lord Jagannath.

Patnaik, who is also the chief of the state's ruling Biju Janata Dal, in May proposed the name of Sangma after holding discussion with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.