Swain quits BJP,flays RSS interference

A day after he threatened to end his 20-year-long association with the BJP,senior party leader and three-time MP Aira Kharabela Swain quit the saffron party....

A day after he threatened to end his 20-year-long association with the BJP,senior party leader and three-time MP Aira Kharabela Swain quit the saffron party on Tuesday alleging undue interference from the RSS. His resignation came on a day when former union minister Juel Oram was all set to become the new president of the party in Orissa.

Lashing out at the RSS at a press conference to announce his resignation,Swain said: I am forced to quit BJP because of the manner in which the RSS is interfering in party affairs. The influence of the RSS is so strong that stalwarts like L K Advani have lost grip over the party8230; The BJP is 100 times better than the RSS as they are accountable. But the party will not be able to achieve any success for another 100 years if it continues to be managed by the RSS leaders who have no moral character.

The former BJP MP said the sway of the RSS was evident from the way in which a person like Nitin Gadkari was anointed as national president of the party. They have made a person the president who could not even become an MLA once. He was head of the BJP in a state where the party lost the Assembly polls to Congress-NCP combine three times in a row despite bad governance by the latter, he said.

Swain said he would launch a new party with a national outlook within a month to provide an alternative to the BJD. Till Naveen Patnaik is there,Orissa will not see any development. I believe I have honesty and competence which would be appreciated by the people of Orissa, he said. He,however added that he may consider returning to BJP in future if RSS control over the party is completely removed.

Swain was vice-president of the state BJP from 1993

to 2000 and president of the youth wing of the party

from 1991-1993. He was deputy chief whip of the BJP parliamentary party in Lok Sabha from 2004-2009. Swain has been national executive member of BJP for the past five years and in charge of the party affairs in West Bengal and Tripura since 2005.

Swain,who won thrice from Balasore LS seat before losing in the last election,alleged that those who had ransacked his house in Balasore on April 3 this year,were promoted by the party and new state chief Juel Oram and those who had indulged in anti-party activities during elections were given important positions.