Modi wishes Naveen as he turns 71

Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on his ^t birthday on Sunday.

Wishing him on his 71^st birthday the Prime Minister tweeted- “Birthday wishes to Odisha CM Shri Naveen Patnaik. Praying for his long and healthy life. @Naveen_Odisha.”

Similarly, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wished her Odisha counterpart through social media.

“Birthday greetings to CM of Odisha Naveen Patnaik ji” Mamata tweeted.

Union Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan also wished Patnaik on Tweeter on his 71st birthday.

On Saturday, Patnaik had declared not to celebrate his birthday as a mark of respect to the martyr jawans who laid down their lives fighting against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

Patnaik had also requested his well wishers and ruling BJD workers and leaders not to organise any celebration.

He had also party members and workers not to visit Navin Niwas to greet him on the occasion.

Patnaik last year also did not celebrate his birthday following a mishap where 11 students were injured due to bursting of a gas balloon cylinder in a party procession.

Also read: Naveen invites Jaitley to Make in Odisha conclave

On earlier occasions, Patnaik did not celebrate his birthday in 2011, 2013 and 2014 due to natural calamities like floods, cyclones Phailin and Hudhud.

Patnaik, the 14th and current Chief Minister of Odisha, was born at Cuttack on October 16, 1946.