The CPI and CPM, which supported the ruling BJD in the last Assembly and general elections, have now become the new adversaries of the former. The two Left parties doesn’t appear to be happy with the industrial policy pursued by the Naveen Patnaik government.
The cozy relationship, which began a month before the election process started in 2009, continued for a year and started withering away as the BJD wanted `52,000-crore Posco project to come up at Paradip at any cost.
Besides, the state government’s effort to see through the Vedanta Aluminium Limited’s Lanjigarh project in Kalahandi district also annoyed the party as it required mining in the bio-diversity rich Niyamgiri hill, a place inhabited by the primitive Dongaria Kondh tribe.
CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan, who forsook his years of anti-BJD stand just on the eve of elections and played the key architect role in forging pre-poll alliance with the ruling party, no longer seems be comfortable with new ally. In a public rally held here on April 5, denounced the Orissa government’s stand on various issues and asked chief minister Naveen Patnaik to change his attitude towards the Posco and Vedanta issues.
Mr Bardhan said the chief minister must change his attitude towards companies, particularly Posco and Vedanta, in order to protect the interest of the people. Stating that CPI’s electoral arrangements with the ruling BJD during the last general elections were purely political and aimed at defeating the common enemies like Congress and the BJP, Mr Bardhan said, “We had even then suggested Mr Patnaik to change his stand on Posco issue. Instead of meeting the people who were likely to be displaced due to the proposed Posco project near Paradip, the chief minister kept himself away from the ground realities.” “Mr Patnaik had promised to visit the proposed Posco site during a discussion with a delegation. But, he did not go there,” the CPI leader said.