'Biju Janata Dal equidistant from both Congress and BJP': Jay Panda

A day after Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her party would never support Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Member of Parliament Jay Panda said on Saturday that his political outfit is equidistant from both the ruling Congress Party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"Naveen Patnaik has made the BJD's stand very clear. We are equidistant. We are neither with the BJP nor the Congress. This stand of ours is in the interest of the country and our state," said Panda.

"We would not like to make any comment on any personality. It is their internal matter," he added.

Addressing a panchayat election rally at Rampurhat in West Bengal's Birbhum district yesterday, Banerjee said that the TMC does not support Modi at the present, nor will it support him in the future.

"UPA has been ruling for ten years but during this time they did not mention anything about Narendra Modi. Now, when the election is round the corner, they are attacking him... Congress and BJP are engaged in a game of compromise," said Banerjee.

With its agenda as good governance versus bad governance, the BJP yesterday announced the formation of 20 panels to focus on various aspects of electioneering for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls under Modi's leadership.

BJP leader Ananth Kumar, who announced the list of 20 campaign committees, said they will be steered under Modi's leadership.

Kumar said senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and party chief Rajnath Singh will oversee the functioning of central poll panel, which is headed by Modi.