Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah appear to adopt a different strategy to take on the Naveen Patnaik Government. The BJP top leadership seems not inclined to hit Patnaik directly, though they may not appease him either.
Even as the party’s State leadership shouts for a CBI probe into the mining scam, the Modi Government at the Centre appears not keen on it. According to political observers, the Modi-Shah combine wants to assess whether the BJP, and not the Congress, would benefit out of a CBI inquiry against the BJD Government’s role in the mining scam.
That the Central Government is not interested in allowing a CBI probe is evident from the statement of Union Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar here recently. “The Shah Commission has pointed out that illegal mining has taken place and forest and environment laws have been violated. Though the Commission has recommended a CBI inquiry, we have sent the action-taken report to the State Governments,” Tomar had said.
And he significantly added, “In a Federal system, both the Centre and the States are important, and we must respect each other’s views.” When Tomar made this statement, he clearly forgot the assurance of the then BJP president Rajnath Singh during electioneering that an NDA Government would certainly allow the CBI to probe all scams, including the multi-crore mining scam in Odisha.
Meanwhile, Congress leader and former Union Minister Srikant Jena has told reporters, “The Justice MB Shah Commission report has said there is large-scale mining loot in Odisha. So, the Union Government should take a positive stand for the greater interest of the people. Instead of doing that, it is trying to divert the attention of the people from a CBI inquiry. It only indicates that both the Centre and the State are hand in glove.”
The BJP central leadership seems quite aware that though the Congress has been confined to only 16 Assembly seats, its acceptability among people is still better than the BJP’s. So, the BJP top leadership would never take any step that would harm the BJD and benefit the Congress.
The BJP’s first priority seems to strengthen the party’s base in certain States, including Odisha where its weak organisational network failed to translate Modi’s popularity into more than 10 Assembly seats and a lone lok Sabha seat. At the same time, the NDA Government is not expected to support Naveen Patnaik on all issues.