Date:30/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083056461200.htm

National

Brinda: BJD must snap ties with BJP

Special Correspondent

Brinda Karat

BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Janata Dal, headed by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, should snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, said Brinda Karat, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, here on Friday.

Emerging from a meeting with Mr. Patnaik at the State Assembly here, Ms. Karat told journalists that going by the prevailing situation it was clear that the writ of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar was running in the State.

“It is high time that Mr. Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal dissociated itself from the BJP,” Ms. Karat said.

Accusing the Sangh Parivar of indulging in arson and violence in the aftermath of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda, Ms. Karat criticised the State government for its “failure” to provide security to members of the Christian community.

It was unfortunate that the BJP and the members of the Sangh Parivar were trying their best to give communal colour to the killing of Swami Lakshmanananda and four others when the government was of the view that it was the handiwork of suspected Maoists, Ms. Karat said.

Ms. Karat also met several Christian families who had arrived in the city after their houses were burnt down by rioters in Kandhamal district.

The CPI (M) leader, who was on a day’s visit to the State, wanted to visit Kandhamal along with a team of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA). But she dropped the plan in view of the tension prevailing in the district.