Sunday, January 8 2006 13:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhubaneswar: Peeved at the demand within the coalition partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to pull out from the coalition government in Orissa over the Kalinga Nagar incident, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today (Jan 08, 2006) hit back at the saffron party saying it had behaved in an 'immature fashion'.

"We are particularly sad at the way BJP state president Jual Oram tried to condemn the government in which his own party is a partner", BJD Secretary General and Panchayatiraj Minister Damodar Rout said at a news conference here.

Rout said the government had faced a rough situation following the incident in which 13 persons were killed but the manner in which Oram talked to the media 'is unacceptable and we condemn such action'.

"However, we thank the BJP central leadership for brushing aside the immature demand of the state party seeking withdrawal from the government", he said.

The BJD leader pointed out that two BJP ministers; Biswabhushan Harichandan and Manmohan Samal, were in charge of the Industries and Revenue departments respectively which were responsible for dealing with the issue of displacement and rehabilitation at Kalinga Nagar for establishment of several steel projects.

"How can they blame the government and paint a picture as if it was the BJD which was at fault"? he asked.

Stating that he believed in collective responsibility, Rout said responsibility also rested with these two ministers in dealing with the matter.

"I don't accept the charge that the government had failed in regard to the Kalinga Nagar incident", he said.

When a reporter said that some BJP MLAs had expressed the view that they were not being taken into confidence in many policy matters, Rout retorted, "What do they mean? They have their ministers who are consulted in different matters. Do they mean that each mla must be consulted"?

The Kalinga Nagar Police firing had set off rumblings within the BJP with several tribal MLAs openly expressing their view that the party should pull out of the coalition.

They argued that since they had been elected from tribal constituencies and BJP drew its strength from the tribal belt, they could not afford to continue in a government, which was being attacked over the killings.

Party chief Oram, who discussed the matter with BJP ministers and leaders, rushed to Delhi on Friday last to hold parleys with BJP president Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders.

The central party leadership, however, turned down the demand after Singh talked to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik conveying the concerns of party legislators.

Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar had said in Delhi yesterday that both parties would work towards strengthening the coalition through regular interaction. He also ruled out any threat to the coalition government while pointing out that the main coalition partner (BJD) required to honour coalition dharma.

The BJD-BJP alliance, though electorally successful twice since 2000, had been encountering problems periodically over different issues.

Oram, a party MP, had differed openly with the chief minister over the MoU signed with the South Korean Company Posco for establishment of a 12 million tonne steel plant at Paradip.

The tribal leader and former union minister had differed over the controversial clause allowing the Korean company to export iron ore from the state.