Janata Dal Splits In Orissa

The 43-member Janata Dal Legislature Party in Orissa split yesterday with 29 members forming a separate party the Biju Janata Dal.

The split had become imminent with the central party leadership ignoring the ultimatum issued by the state dissident leaders led by Union minister Dillip Ray and Biju Patnaiks son Nabin Patnaik to grant them freedom to enter into a poll tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Even the consent to have an informal tie-up with the BJP would do, a senior rebel leader had said. The deadline set by the dissidents expired Sunday evening.

The breakaway legislature group, which would replace the Janata Dal as the largest opposition group in the 147-member House, elected Ramakrishna Patnaik as its leader.

Briefing newsmen after a meeting of the break-away group, Nabin Patnaik said the new party would approach all like-minded parties to join hands with it to fight the corrupt Congress.

The newly elected leader Ramakrishna Patnaik said the legislators would soon formally write to the assembly speaker informing him about the split. Today(Monday) It is late, may be tomorrow we will write, he said.

Another prominent leader of the group, former minister Bijay Mohapatra said that only the legislature party had split yesterday.

The new political party, which would be formally launched soon, would approach the Election Commission for a separate symbol. At todays meeting 25 MLAs were present while four others who had signed the papers earlier were out of the town.

They were expected in the state capital any time, Mohapatra said.

Earlier, state party president Ashok Das had resigned as the opposition leader in the assembly in what was believed to be a conciliatory move aimed at appeasing the dissidents.

Das was a strong votary of the central party line prescribing maintaining equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP. With Das out of the way, someone from the dissident camp was expected to take over as the opposition leader.

Sources said though the central party leaders had verbally assured the rebels of freedom at a later stage suiting the political firmament of the state, the state rebel leaders wanted a categorical announcement from Delhi. We want a categorical announcement in this regard so there is no confusion afterwards,, former minister and Dal leader Prassanna Acharya had said.