BHUBANESHWAR: Even as the meeting between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao fuelled speculations of formation of a political alternative at the national level to take on the BJP, the saffron party on Sunday said such things were tried in the past but failed.
Reacting to the Congress jibe that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are 'B' teams of the BJP, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said, "Zero plus zero remains a zero in politics."
Pradhan said a senior Congress leader has been telling the people of the State that mining mafia have been ruling Odisha for over 40 years. It is an open secret that these mining mafia have joined hands to keep others away from power.
"Everybody knows who is involved in mining scam and has joined hands with whom to protect business interest and political gains," he said. Alleging that those who have ruling the State for over four decades have looted the people, Pradhan said time has come for a change.
"The people of the State have tasted the Congress and the BJD for a long time. The time has come for BJP and no one can stop it from coming to power," he said. Responding to the Congress attack on GST, the Union Minister said the former has no moral right to comment as it has ruined the country's economy.
Earlier on the day, senior Congress leader Ram Chandra Khuntia said Telangana Chief Minister was with the NDA in the past. The BJD has been supporting the BJP in all major issues. As CBI sword hangs on KCR and Naveen, both are working as B teams of BJP, said Khuntia who is also Congress in-charge of Telangana.