Janata Parivar: Naveen says BJD has not taken decision to join move yet

Bhubaneswar: Ruling BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said his party has not yet decided on joining the move to reunite the erstwhile 'Janata parivar', even as BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said BJP was the "real Janata Parivar".

"Our party has not taken any stand on that (joining Janata Parivar) issue yet. We are waiting for the future," Patnaik told reporters on his return after a six-day tour to the national capital.

Stating that the Biju Janata Dal continued to maintain equi-distance from both the Congress and the BJP, Patnaik said his party would wait and watch the development taking place at the national level.

Six political parties of the 'Janata parivar' have come together recently to present a united front against the BJP-led government in the Winter Session of Parliament and have not ruled out the possibility of a merger in the future to take on a resurgent BJP.

JD(U) leaders Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda, INLD's Dushyant Chautala and SJP's Kamal Morarka attended a lunch hosted by Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav on November 6.

Meanwhile, Subramanian Swamy claimed that he was the last surviving member of the erstwhile Janata Party and the BJP was the real Janata Parivar.

"They (Mulayam, Lalu, Deve Gowda and Nitish) have broken the Janata Parivar. I was the last surviving member of the Janata Parivar. However, I merged my party with BJP, the new avtar of Jansangha," Swamy told reporters here.

Swamy was here to attend a programme with the students of a private university.

Replying to a question on his party MLA and MP being arrested by the CBI in the chitfund scam, Patnaik distanced the party and government, saying, "It was their individual matter. The government or the party has nothing to do with it (chitfund scam)."

Asked if he feels that the CBI has been working on political motive, Patnaik said, "A number of people do think so."