Naveen proposes new front

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here on Wednesday that there “is a need for a new transparent, honest and anti-communal” front at the Centre to counter the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Patnaik’s statement has assumed significance in view of his recent telephonic talks with his Tamil Nadu and West Bengal counterparts Jayalalitha and Mamata Banerjee respectively as well as former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. “I certainly believe that there is a need for some sort of a new front (at the Centre) to counter the thoroughly discredited and corrupt Congress-led UPA and communally tainted NDA led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The new front should be transparent, honest and anti-communal,” he told newspersons here during an informal chat.

Patnaik, who also heads the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the ruling regional outfit in Odisha, has spoken to Jayalalitha, Mamata Banerjee and Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday on the Centre’s decision to grant wide-ranging powers to National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), the newly created anti-terror mechanism, without consulting states.

According to Patnaik, by doing so the Centre is trying to infringe upon the federal rights and legitimate jurisdiction of the states.

 “The chief minister has spoken to Ms Jayalalitha and Ms Mamata Banerjee and Sri Chandrababu Naidu on the NCTC issue. He has also written  to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on the subject,” Patnaik’s Public Relations Officer S K Panda confirmed.
If BJD sources are to believed, during Patnaik’s telephonic conversations with the three leaders, he had also spoken about the possibility of floating a new third front.

Patnaik’s move has already triggered speculation in political circles about the formation of a new front much before the 2014 general election.

“Efforts to form the new third front may gain speed after UP elections results are out,” said a highly placed source in the BJD.