The CPI on Thursday said the mining scam, into which it has been demanding a CBI probe, is among the factors which prompted it not to enter into seat adjustment with the State’s ruling BJD for the coming elections.
“There are many reasons, including the mining scam, for which our State unit is against having any seat adjustment with the BJD,” senior CPI leader AB Bardhan told reporters here. Besides the mining scam, there are issues like the Posco project and Vedanta on which the CPI is opposed to the stand taken by the BJD, Bardhan said. Under these circumstances, the question of an alliance with the BJD does not arise this time though the CPI had seat adjustments with the BJD in the 2009 polls, he said.
Admitting that the CPI at one point tried for a tie-up with the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, Bardhan said, “I confess that we tried to toy with the idea of having seat adjustment with the BJD, but finally we decided that the days of adjustment with the BJD are over.” On Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Sambalpur on Friday, he said, “I see absolutely no Modi presence in Odisha.”