Bhubaneswar: Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram's comment," the central government was lenient with punishing the Odisha government over the chit fund and mining scams", was slammed by the Congress on Saturday.

The party accused both the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of striking a secret deal for their individual gains.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and (Odisha Chief Minister) Naveen Patnaik have struck a grand alliance to bail out each other on several issues," said Leader of opposition and senior Congress leader Narasingh Mishra.

"Modi has assured that it will protect the state government from the ongoing CBI probes into various scams while Naveen will reciprocate by pledging BJD's support to BJP in the Rajya Sabha," he added.

"The central government let the BJD government off the hook in chit fund and mining scams," he told a private news channel.

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan distanced himself from the comment and said: "I have not seen what he (Oram) has said. I will talk to him to know what context he said so."

He also denied that the central government is interfering with the affairs of the CBI.(IANS)