BJD yet to decide on joining Janata parivar, says Naveen

Patnaik, however, says his party will continue to keep distance from both Congress and BJP

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has not taken any decision to join the forum being floated by offshoot parties of erstwhile Janata Dal offshoot parties to counter Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre, said party head and chief minister, Naveen Patnaik here.

"Our party has not taken any stand on that (joining Janata Parivar) issue yet. We are waiting for the future," he said after returning from an official trip to New Delhi.

Last week, Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party (SP) had called on leaders of six political parties, who were once part of the Janata Dal, to decide strategy to counter the growing importance of BJP in national politics. Sources said, there is a proposal to form a bigger party with the merger of SP in it.

Janata Dal has been split several times to give birth to at least a dozen regional parties across the country. BJD was formed in 1997 after Naveen Patnaik decided to ally with BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), against the wishes of the Janata Dal leaders.

The forum of erstwhile Janata Dal leaders has apparently decided to work as a bloc in the Parliament in the upcoming winter session and will oppose the decisions of the BJP government in the Centre, possibly with the help of Congress and the Left parties. Patnaik, however, said his party will continue to keep distance from both Congress and BJP.

"We are committed to our policy to maintain equidistance from the Congress and the BJP", he added.

During the five-day trip to Delhi, Patnaik met Union finance minister, Arun Jaitley to discuss about release of financial assistance to Odisha to carry out restoration work for cyclone Phailin and other developmental programmes.

It was his second trip to the national capital in just one month. Opposition parties alleged that the BJD chief was touring New Delhi to lobby with the leaders of the Central government to tone down the hostility of CBI probe into chit fund scam, which has seen arrest of few BJD leaders including a sitting MP and a MLA and a former MLA. Patnaik today hinted that the CBI probe was biased politically.

"A lot of people think so (that CBI is investigating on behalf of BJP to defame BJD)," he told reporters at his residence today.