BHUBANESWAR: With THE D-day arriving, Congress continued to reach out to various political parties in search of new allies to achieve the magic numbers at the Centre as a fractured verdict is anticipated.
As talks for government formation at the Centre gained momentum on the eve of counting of votes for Lok Sabha polls tomorrow, senior Congress leader and Union Minister Kamalnath today spoke to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in an apparent bid to garner Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) support for the UPA.
Kamalnath, an old friend of Naveen from his Doon school days, spoke to the Chief Minister over phone. Though no one is willing to give details of what transpired between the two leaders, the brief discussion is expected to be the UPA’s efforts towards government formation and wooing Naveen to the UPA fold.
Sources in the Congress maintained that nothing concrete has emerged from the talks. It was a courtesy call, a senior leader said.
As surveys by television channels predicted a hung Parliament, the Congress-led UPA and the NDA led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have started wooing different smaller political parties to bolster their prospects for government formation at the Centre.
While the Congress has started the process of reaching out to the BJD, the BJP has made no such overtures so far.
However, the estranged partner of BJD has not ruled out a post-poll understanding with the regional party. BJP leaders here feel that as the BJD had snapped ties with the party first, it should take the first step for mending fences.
However, a powerful section of the State BJP is against any such understanding with the BJD. This depends on tomorrow’s election results. If the BJP gets more than 20 seats and the BJD is dependent on it government formation, then Naveen will have to support the NDA at the Centre.
The Third Front has also not given up hope on Naveen as yet. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat met Naveen here last week to discuss post-poll possibilities with him.
Naveen has, however, not opened up his cards till now. A senior leader said that the BJD will take a decision only after the election results