The arrest of West Bengal MPs and subsequently, raids at the houses of some BJD leaders in connection with the chit fund scam by the CBI has made the TMC and the BJD yet closer and strengthened their anti-Centre stand.
And this is happening at a time, when there are speculations of a coming together of secular forces in the country to provide an alternative to the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre during the 2019 general elections.
Though TMC chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has made no bones of her avowed stand against the policy of the BJP Government at the Centre and very openly protested the demonetisation both in the Parliament and on the streets, the BJD see-sawed and rather, followed a dual policy so far as its relation with the BJP is concerned.
While BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik kept the State BJP at arm’s length, at the same time, he sought to cozy up with the Central BJP with a view to getting a respite from the CBI probe into various scams against his Government and get special concessions from the Centre. His dual policy is such that the State BJP gets defamed on various issues, be it Mahanadi or Polavaram, without causing a little harm to his relation with the Central BJP leaders. As a matter of fact, Patnaik supported the demonetisation instantly though later, he urged the Centre for various relaxations to ease the difficulties of the poor due to the note ban.
Earlier, the BJD also supported various Bills, including the GST, so as to be in good humour with the NDA Government. Even when senior MP Bhartuhari Mahtab stirred a hornet nest by raising the issue of a possible tie-up between the BJD and the Congress for a ‘mahaghatbandhan’ of the secular forces at the Centre, Patnaik ruled out such a possibility and even put Mahtab on notice for making the comment off- the- cuff.
However, the recent crackdown of the CBI against the BJD leaders has driven the party into an insecure zone, which might force the BJD reconsider its relation with the Centre.
Confirming the allegation of State BJP vice president Sameer Mohanty that BJD and TMC are in an undeclared tie-up, the two regional parties have demonstrated in front of the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. Both alleged of being targeted by the BJP-led Central Government and termed it as ‘political vendetta.’
TMC MPs have repeatedly alleged that they have been arrested and grilled over the Rose Valley scam as their party was against demonetisation by PM Narendra Modi. Sudip Bandyopadhyaya cried foul against the Central Government for using the CBI against him as his party opposed the note ban tooth and nail.
But the BJD alleged that the BJP is using the CBI as a tool to belittle it in the name of complicity of its leaders in chit fund scam ahead of the panchayat election so as to reap political dividends.
Spokesperson Pratap Deb said, “The CBI raids are politically motivated.”