BJP acted troublesome with "Hindutva agenda": BJD

Bhubaneshwar, March 17 (ANI): Having already deserted its old friend Bharatiya Janata Party just ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday accused the BJP of attempting to implement "Hindutva agenda" in Orissa state.

The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD cherished political relations with Hindutva-minded BJP for nearly a decade in Orissa.

evealing the reasons that compelled his party to snap ties with the BJP, the BJD supreme and Orissa's chief minister Naveen Patnaik revealed that the relations started getting sour for last six months.

"They (BJP) were creating disturbances for last six months. When government took bold steps to check trouble they started opposing," said Naveen Patnaik told an election rally at Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

"BJP tried to implement its Hindutva agenda in Orissa after realising that its vote base was declining. This was not acceptable to us," said BJD MP Pyari Mohan Mohaptra, considered to be the main strategist of Patnaik.

Claiming that BJD was not responsible for the break up of the alliance, Mohapatra alleged that BJP had made up its mind earlier to quit coalition to pursue its 'communal aganda'.

"I am not responsible for the break up. I just placed the real picture before the BJD supremo on the dismal performance of the saffron party which was supposed to go to polls under Naveen Patnaik's leadership," he said.

Mohapatra, often blamed by BJP leaders for the break-up, said the saffron party had no option but to work on its 'Hindutva agenda' to save its vote base.

The bureaucrat-turned-politician commented that BJP's popularity graph could be gauged from its poor show in recent civic polls. (ANI)