Congress questions secular credentials of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik

Sharma asks CM to explain party’s compulsion for toeing NDA line while claiming to be equidistant from both parties
Congress leader Anand Sharma and OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik in Bhubaneswar
Congress leader Anand Sharma and OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: Tearing into the ruling BJD for extending support to the NDA pick for the post of deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, Congress on Monday questioned the secular credentials of the regional party.In a scathing attack on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for blindly supporting all wrong decisions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma asked Naveen to explain its compulsion for toeing the NDA line when he claimed his party is equidistant from both Congress and BJP.
“What was the compulsion of Naveen Patnaik to endorse the NDA nominee when the entire opposition was united and voted in favour of Congress candidate,” the former Union Minister questioned.

Ironically, in a statement here on Sunday, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan made a similar observation. It is not only the Congress but even people of the country want to know the driving force behind Naveen’s decision, Sharma said.“It is for the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister to explain what transpired between them that the former was forced to lend his support to the NDA nominee. Or else Pradhan must throw some light on the issue,” Sharma said.

Lambasting the Prime Minister for his ‘big fight’ against corruption, Sharma said while a targeted vendetta is going on against his political opponents, especially Congress leaders, it is surprising that the NDA Government at the Centre is going soft on Naveen. This is despite the fact that the decade old alliance between BJD and BJP was over in 2009.

“It is now quite apparent that there is match fixing between the two parties as they understand the electoral compulsion ahead of the next general elections,” he said.Responding to a query on possible electoral tie up between the two old allies, Sharma said they may stitch up a post poll alliance as the BJP is unsure of repeating the 2014 success in 2019.Asserting that the next round of Assembly elections in States like Chhattisgharh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will cost the ruling BJP dearly, Sharma said the ‘tsunami’ of 2014 will not be there for Modi in 2019.

As the BJP is unable to make a dent in the two eastern States of Odisha and West Bengal despite best of its efforts and Amit Shah’s ‘operation east’ to make up loss in BJP-ruled States is not going anywhere, the Prime Minister is trying to keep Naveen in good humour for obvious reasons, he remarked.
Taking a jibe at the Chief Minister, Sharma wondered why the Chief Minister has failed to resolve some contentious issues like Mahanadi water dispute when he is having telephonic discussion with the Prime Minister.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com