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Control partymen, BJP warns Patnaik

M I Khan in Bhubaneswar

The state Bharatiya Janata Party leadership has indirectly warned Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to control his partymen, including cabinet colleagues, or face trouble, following the recent assault of senior party leader and Minister for Cooperation and Textile Arabind Dhali, allegedly by supporters of Biju Janata Dal senior leader and Minister for School and Mass Education Bhagwat Behra.

BJP sources said that the leadership was against the big brotherly attitude of BJD leaders. Before things worsen, Patnaik must control his partymen, the BJP said.

In fact, differences between the ruling partners, the BJD and BJP, took a new turn following a fracas between party workers at Nayagarh, about 70 km from Bhubaneswar recently, over the visit of Dhali, who was humiliated by supporters of Behra, demanding a positive response from Patnaik.

"We will take up the matter with the Central leadership if Patnaik fails to satisfy us," said a senior BJP leader and minister in Patnaik's cabinet who attended an emergency meeting on Thursday night to discuss strained ties between the ruling partners.

Ignoring Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's advice to work together to impress the public, at a meeting at Paradip two days ago, the BJP state leadership is no mood to compromise.

A senior BJP leader pointed that BJD supporters attacked two BJP ministers.

A senior BJP leader said that they want a clear response from Patnaik before involving the central leadership. "It's not a joke. One after another, two BJP ministers were assaulted and attacked by BJD supporters. We have to take it seriously," he said.

State BJP president Manmohan Samal refused to comment on Thursday night's meeting which discussed the attack. Samal termed the meeting as 'informal'. However, Dhali said that it was convened to discuss the assault.

Dhali alleged that Behra incited party workers to disrupt his meeting at Nayagarh. "This issue will crop up at the next meeting of the ruling partners' coordination committee,'' he said.

A fresh committee was constituted to sort out such problems between the allies after BJP senior leader and Urban Development Minister Samir Dey was allegedly attacked by supporters of senior BJD leader Kalindi Charan Behra at Salepur in Cuttack district last month.

The committee was to meet last month. BJP sources said that BJD leaders would not permit the meeting to be held soon. However, BJD leaders claimed that the party was serious about holding the meeting last month and instead blamed the BJP.

A BJD spokesperson said that the next meeting would be held after Vajpayee's visit to the state and the Aska Lok Sabha bypoll. But, now it seems that the meeting will not held before next month.

BJD sources admitted that the rift was widening over the functioning of several ministers and failure of the government to prove itself to be different from the previous Congress government.

The strained relations surfaced soon after the formation of the ministry last March following allotment of less important portfolios to the BJP.

Then, BJP leaders tried to lure two Independent legislators, which resulted in an open war of words as they had won the assembly elections as rebels against official candidates of the alliance partners.

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