Centre urges Orissa CM to curb violence or quit: Moily

Kozhikode, Aug 29 (UNI) The Centre has directed Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take stringent measures to curb violence in that State, AICC Media Cell Convener M Veerappa Moily said today.

The UPA government had asked Mr Patnaik ''to control the violence or quit'' as the law and order situation in the State had deteriorated since the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati and his disciples in Kandhamal district on August 23, Mr Moily told mediapersons here.

On the possibility of imposing President's rule in Orissa following the violence that claimed ten lives, he said ''there are constitutional methods, but it will be used as a last resort.'' Blaming the saffron brigade for the communal flare-up, Mr Moily said the situation continued to be tense in the state forcing thousands of people belonging to minority communities to flee from their homeland.

''The BJP is playing the Hindutva card, eyeing the coming general elections in the country,'' he said and alleged that it was adopting the same policy in Jammu and Kashmir on the Amarnath land allocation issue to meet its political agenda.

The BJP even wanted to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into three separate regions, Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir, but the Congress would not allow its game plan to succeed as it favoured a united Kashmir, he added.

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