BJP silent on moves to bring Orissa under President's Rule

New Delhi, Oct 7 (UNI) The BJP today declined to comment on the move to bring Orissa under President's rule in the wake of attacks on Christian community in Kandhamal district.

Asked for the party's reaction about the move in the Union Cabinet to discuss Orissa situation and ban Bajrang Dal, BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said the party has been hearing so many things like use of Article 356. "We will react only if there is any action", he said.

To a persistent question if Bajrang Dal was a terrorist organisation, Mr Prasad said none in the country had said so and it would be wrong to equate Bajrang Dal and ban it along with a terrorist organisation like SIMI. It would not be fair, he added.

As far as conversion was concerned, the BJP was not opposed to people changing their religion on their own volition but is totally opposed to any forcible conversions or through allurements.

About the call of Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh asking the BJD to jettison its connections with the NDA, Mr Prasad said the BJD was one of the old and trusted allies of the BJP and the NDA along with Akali Dal, Janata Dal (United) and Samata Party.

''Our support to the BJD is unflinching both in and outside Parliament,'' he said. The BJP, he said, did not require any certificate from the Congress on secular credentials.

On the possible inclusion of the AIADMK into the NDA fold, Mr Prasad who is also incharge of the BJP in Tamil Nadu said the BJP and the AIADMK had similar views on issues like Ram Setu. The party will take a view when the elections are due, he said.

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