No communication with TMC over CBI row: Naveen Patnaik on Mamata’s support remark

Naveen Patnaik has said no one from TMC is in contact with his BJD over CBI row in West Bengal.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said there has been no communication between his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the last one year. Patnaik’s assertion came hours after West Bengal Chief Minister said she would consult the Odisha CM before calling off her sit-in in Kolkata over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials allegedly planned a “secret operation” to arrest city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar.

Odish Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said the BJD’s earlier statement over CBI row was in relation to events in his state only. (Photo: Twitter/@ANI)

Asked if there has been any communication with West Bengal chief minister over the CBI matter, news agency ANI quoted, Patnaik as saying, “No one from the TMC has been in contact with us for at least a year. Our party statement yesterday had to do with events in our state.”

“We would like the CBI to do a professional and non political job,” Patnaik said.

Earlier, Mamata Banerjee had said that she had received support from opposition leaders including Patnaik and that she would take a final decision on her course of action after consulting him among others.

The BJP issued two statements on Monday over the CBI matter. In the first statement, the party said, “Institutional integrity of the CBI has to be restored. We are a mature democracy and professionalism should be maintained.”

Later in the day, the BJD issued another statement saying, “The Biju Janata Dal would like to clarify that the statement given by BJD on CBI is in relation to Odisha and the overall issues confronting CBI at the national level.”

The party asserted that “grouping BJD with some political parties because of this statement is incorrect and misleading.”