By IANS,
Bangalore : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday said that it was concerned over the violence in Orissa following the killing of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, but added that it would not withdraw support to the state government headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
“Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is one of our important allies and the current trouble will not affect our relations with it,” BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters here.
“We are concerned over the developments in Orissa. But we will not withdraw support to the government,” he said.
Naqvi, who was here in connection with the BJP’s national executive committee meeting in September, said he expects three or four important political parties to become part of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by it ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due early next year.
“The NDA is in talks with some important political parties on a pre-poll alliance for the Lok Sabha elections. Three or four may come into the NDA fold,” he said. However, he refused to name the parties.
The BJP national executive meeting is scheduled to be held here Sep 12-14. About 200 members are expected to attend the meet and the party’s senior leader L.K. Advani will address a ‘Sankalp Yatra’ Sep 13, Naqvi said.
Ahead of the national executive, the BJP central election committee will meet in Delhi Sep 2 when the names of about 300 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls would be finalised, Naqvi said.