Orissa Chief Minister: Will never again join Sangh Parivar

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seems to have learned his lesson from the Kandhamal violence that rocked the state last year.

Addressing a press conference with Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar and senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, Patnaik said, he would never again form a party with the Sangh Parivar or let any communal problems creep into the state.

The BJD President said he had a peaceful nine-year tenure till the horrible Kandhamal violence surfaced.

Clearing doubts on the recent break-up of the government, he said, the anti-minority approach by the BJP and the division it caused in Kandhamal led to the snapping of ties with its 11-year-old ally.

When asked if the snapping of ties was only temporary, Patnaik responded, "I can assure you on behalf of my party and obviously myself that there is certainly not going to be a tie-up with the BJP ever."

"The aftermath of Kandhamal had started showing them as not healthy for my state. That had begun after the Kandhamal incident. Before that we were lucky enough in the nine years of my chief-ministership not to have any serious communal problems, but you know how serious and how horrible Kandhamal was," he told a news channel.

The politico accused the BJP of playing communal politics and said, "The BJP is a communal party and it has a communal agenda."

Orissa goes to the polls to elect 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly members on April 16 and 23.

Meanwhile, addressing a election rally in Orissa's Bargarh town, Congress President Sonia Gandhi asked people to be vigilant of growing 'divisive forces'. "The people of Orissa are peace-loving but seeds of hatred are being sown by some outfits in the name of religion and caste. Kandhamal is an example," she said.

Her son and All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday tried to woo people by projecting communal harmony as the major poll plank of Congress.

"Orissa had a name for being a peaceful state in the country, but the situation has changed. They have tortured people and instigated communal clashes in the name of religion," he said.

Violence was sparked in the state following the murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008.

Accusing Christians of executing the murder, thousands of Hindu radicals went on rampage, murdering Christians, vandalising churches and burning houses. 54,000 Christians had to flee during the mayhem.

The Kandhamal incident shocked the whole Christian community in India and woke churches from their slumber. It led to the calling of demonstrations, protests and pre-election consultations by the church nationwide.