Bhubaneswar, Feb. 15: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who dumped the BJP in 2009 and has consistently maintained his distance from the Congress, seems keen on a new secular coalition that would emerge as an alternative to the UPA and the NDA at the national level.
“I certainly feel the need for another front as the Congress-led UPA government is discredited and scam-ridden and the NDA is communally tainted. You need a front which is transparent, secular and anti-corruption,” the chief minister said here today even as he fielded questions on his latest battle with the Centre over sweeping powers being vested in the National Counter Terrorism Centre in violation of the country’s federal structure.
Naveen appears to be using the issue as a sounding board to garner like-minded allies, who could form a Third Front in the future. He has already spoken to Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa and his Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee apart from former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu, urging them to fight the Centre’s “unilateral” and “authoritarian” move giving the counter terrorism centre constituted under the Intelligence Bureau such wide ranging powers without consulting the states.
While he can take the support of Jayalalithaa and Chandrababu Naidu almost for granted, Mamata, though a part of the UPA government, is seen as a maverick, who has refused to toe the Congress line on several occasions in the past. That makes her a potential ally for Naveen in the context of a future Third Front at the national level.
This is not the first time that Naveen has sought to align with or garner support from these leaders in the recent past. He had made common cause with them in resisting the Centre’s move of allowing 51 per cent foreign direct investment in the retail sector last year. Singing the same tune as Jayalalithaa and Mamata, he had described the UPA’s retail policy as “ill advised” and “regressive” and sought its immediate withdrawal.
He appears to be working up similar, if not stronger sentiments, on the issue of the counter terrorism centre, which, through a recent order of the Union home ministry, has been given powers to arrest and conduct searches and seek information from state government officials in what appears to be a violation of the Constitution’s federal spirit.
“I am of the view that we, state governments, must resist this blatant encroachment on the federal powers of our people and our governments,” said Naveen in his letter to Jayalalithaa, whom he sees as an ally.
For Naveen, a new coalition with the potential of seizing power at the Centre has become a necessity given his strained relations with both the NDA and the UPA. While he can align with the “communal” NDA again only at the risk of losing a sizeable chunk of his secular vote bank, he has been fighting a running battle with the Congress-led UPA on its alleged neglect of Odisha and its persistent refusal to consider the state’s demand for special category status.
Hence, wooing allies in the quest of a new coalition that would be strong enough to challenge the UPA and the NDA seems high on Naveen’s agenda.
