Feeling free after snapping ties with BJP: Orissa CM

The snapping of ties with the communal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), responsible for the anti-Christian pogroms in Orissa, has apparently brought cheers to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

"I and my party feel free after snapping ties with the communal BJP," Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Tuesday.

Patnaik minced no words in criticising the communal links of the Hindu party with the sangh parivar.

Referring to the Kandhamal violence, Patnaik said, "Due to the recent developments in the state I was feeling choked because of the ties with the BJP."

The failure of Patnaik's govt to curb the violence on Christians which rendered thousands homeless, placed the politico under severe pressure by the UPA govt as well as the International community.

The violence was sparked on August 23, last year, after Hindu fundamentalists accused Christians of slaying a local Hindu leader. The attacks and threats continued even after the Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder of Swami Laxmananda.

Meanwhile, the BJP eyeing on elections have started doctoring stories on 'missionaries' role in dividing the state.

BJP national secretary and MP Dharmendra Pradhan alleged that missionaries have a greater role in breaking the BJD-BJP alliance.

The Chief Minister owes an explanation to the people of the State about his relationship with the missionaries who have been fomenting communalism in Kandhamal and other tribal-dominated areas, Pradhan said.

The Chief Minister has been openly encouraging the missionaries to indulge in all kinds of illegal activities including conversion and grabbing of tribal lands, he added.

Furthermore, inviting more trouble to the Christian community, the BJP on Monday declared that it would make the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati a poll issue in Orissa.

"Those who should have been behind the bars are moving scot free and our workers are in jail," BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said, urging people to vote for a party that would arrest the killers of Saraswati.