Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seems to be gearing up for a bigger role in central politics as he made overt moves to revive the Third Front with the help of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Flush with initial success of the BJD in the first two phases of panchayat polls,Naveen on Wednesday said that there is a dire need for a Third Front. The UPA is thoroughly discredited. I believe theres a need for a Front which will be transparent,corruption free and,of course,secular, he said. BJD insiders feigned surprise over his move to rally a Third Front. I dont know if there is any move for a Third Front. But he has all the credentials to be the leader of Third Front, said BJD MP from Bolangir Kalikesh Singh Deo. Naveen,however,did not elaborate on his ideas for a Third Front,only limiting to his diatribe against the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC). In a calibrated move,in the past 48 hours,he has spoken to Jayalalithaa and Mamata,seeking their support in his opposition to Union Home Minister P Chidambarams pet project. The NCTC,located in the Intelligence Bureau and headed by a director,is proposed to be operational from March 1. The operations division of the counter-terrorism body has been given powers to arrest and carry out searches under Section 43(A) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,1967. He said the UPAs move to empower the NCTC was suspicious,peculiar and draconian. That is why I spoke to the chief ministers of West Bengal,Tamil Nadu and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu,former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. I told all of them regarding the Centres bid to infringe on the federal rights of the states, he said. Naveen has already written to the Prime Minister regarding the issue.
