Pyari calls Naveen villain over failure of anti-BJD front

A day after the state unit of BJP rejected his proposal to forge a front against the ruling BJD ahead of the general elections, the Odisha Janmorcha (OJM) leader Pyarimohan Mohapatra today accused Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of playing the role of a "villain" to defeat the move.
"Naveen, with help of some of the BJP leaders, is working against the proposed anti-BJD front. The Chief Minister is afraid of a front in the state," Mohapatra, a former close confidant of Patnaik, told reporters here.
Mohapatra, who vowed to oust Patnaik from the state politics after being expelled from the ruling BJD on charge of anti-party activities in 2012, said, "Naveen has links with some BJP leaders who work against the proposed front."

Mohapatra's statement came barely two days after the BJP central leader Chandan Mitra held talks with leaders of two small parties on a possible anti-BJD front. However, Mitra's efforts failed as the state unit of BJP and its president K V Singhdeo categorically rejected the idea.
"We are not in favour of any alliance with any party. However, if any leader wants to join the BJP, we will welcome him," Singhdeo said, adding that the party would contest the ensuing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections on its own strength.
Both BJD and BJP immediately rejected Mohapatra's statement. "The people in BJP know the character of Mohapatra. Therefore, they are not ready to join hands with him. We have no role in making or unmaking of the proposed front," BJD vice-president and health minister Damodar Rout told reporters.

Senior BJP leader and former minister B B Harichandan said, "As far as I know, there is no leader in the state unit of BJP who would work for Naveen. Our partymen have taken a stand not to forge allaince with any party before the elections."
Even as the state unit of BJP rejected his proposal, Mohapatra said he was confident of creation of an anti-BJD front in the state before the general elections. "BJP is not the only national party. We will certainly go to polls in a front comprising a national party and some small parties," Mohapatra said.