Naveen eyes bigger role, moots new front

BHUBANESWAR: With the huge success of the Biju Janata Dal in the panchayat polls having strengthened his position further in the State, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seems to have turned his attention to the national stage by mooting an alternative front  Centre to provide a transparent government.Stating that the UPA has become ‘discredited’ and ‘corruption-ridden’ and describing the NDA as ‘communally-tainted’, Naveen said there is a need for a new front which will be transparent, corruption- free and secular.Naveen, however, said details are yet to be worked out. “No master plan has been made. This is just germination of an idea, “ he told mediapersons here on Wednesday replying to a question on his move to unite non-Congress chief ministers over the proposed powers of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.The Chief Minister had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday requesting him to review the MHA order to empower the NCTC. He also wrote letters and spoke to the chief ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu requesting them to oppose the Centre’s move.The Congress-led UPA Government had been “discredited” and “corruption-ridden”, Naveen said, adding, “I find UPA often falling into habit of bypassing democratic rights of the States.”Terming the UPA Government’s move to empower the NCTC as “suspicious” and “peculiar”, Naveen alleged that the Centre has issued a “draconian” order to empower the NCTC under the MHA by completely bypassing the States and their federal rights. “That is why I spoke to the chief ministers of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Chandrababu Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. I told all of them regarding the Centre’s bid to infringe on the federal rights of the States,” he said.His statement against the NDA is significant as for the first time he has termed it as communal. Naveen, who ran a coalition government with the BJP in the State for nine years, had severed all electoral ties with the party prior to the general elections in 2009.It has ended all speculation regarding renewal of electoral ties between the two erstwhile allies in the State.