Naveen backs Didi's Federal Front idea

New Delhi (PTI): Amid a suggestion for forming a "Federal Front" of regional parties, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Tuesday it would be a "healthy thing" to happen for the country and rejected the perception that the experiment of a third front would not be successful. Patnaik, the BJD President who had severed ties with BJP in 2009 just ahead of last elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly, made it clear that his party will maintain equi-distance from both BJP and Congress. "I think it will be a healthy thing for the country to have a Federal Front or a Third Front," he told PTI in an interview here. He was asked about the suggestion made by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that regional parties should get together to form a 'Federal Front' to provide an alternative to Congress and BJP. Asked when such a formation could take shape and whether efforts were already being made in this regard, he merely said "I think its early days yet". When pointed out that Lok Sabha elections as well as the state assembly in Odisha polls are not too far away, Patnaik said "let us see. Things move quite quickly when the elections (approach). Asked who possibly could be the leader of a third front, the BJD chief said "I think it's too early to say, the future will tell." He, however, ruled himself out as a potential Prime Ministerial candidate. The BJD chief rejected the perception that a third front can have no future in India. "It has not happened as yet. But, as I said, if it does, it will be a healthy thing to happen," he said about the contention of Congress and BJP that third front cannot work.