BJP admits it saw Orissa break-up coming

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today admitted that its alliance with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Orissa had been on the rocks for some time and that the recent break-up had not come as a surprise to the BJP.

Rajya Sabha member Chandan Mitra, the BJP interlocutor in the party’s negotiation with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on seat sharing for the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections, said: “Irritants between the two parties had been growing for quite some time.” He had mentioned this to LK Advani, the party’s prime ministerial candidate.

Mitra, who gave his version of the events that led to Patnaik announcing his decision to break the BJD’s 11-year-old relation with the BJP on Saturday, admitted that the chief minister had asked the BJP’s central leaders to use their influence in the state in the wake of Hindu-Christian clashes in Kandhamal last year.

Mitra claimed that he himself had gone to Orissa on a mission to seek support of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other saffron brigade leaders, who had launched an agitation over the murder of a local Hindu saint in August last year, for ending the violence.

“Patnaik babu was quite perturbed over the threat by agitationists to enforce a shutdown on the Christmas day, as it would have sent wrong signals inside the country and internationally, and had sought BJP’s help in averting this,” Mitra said.

BJP’s link with agitationists in Orissa is being cited as one of the reasons for the BJD to snap ties. The BJD had feared a public backlash in the coming elections if it continued alliance with the BJP.

Mitra claimed that he had been carrying out negotiating with Patnaik for three months. However, the final breakdown, he said, was on Saturday night when Patnaik said: “I don’t think this is going to work and we must call off the talks.” He also claimed that the BJP was ready for a climbdown on its due share of seats in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.