Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would not attend the swearing-in of HD Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru today, a BJD leader said stressing that the party chief did not attend any such functions.
BJD general secretary Arun Kumar Sahoo said the party maintained an equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP.
"Therefore, it is obvious that the BJD, a purely regional outfit, has nothing to do with the national parties like the Congress and the BJP," he said.
On Patnaik not attending the event, Sahoo said, "For the last 18 years, the chief minister has not attended the swearing in ceremony in any other state. He is also busy with the second phase of 'Save Mahanadi' campaign launched by the BJD as well as the state government's Ama Gaon Ama Bikas programme."
Sahoo avoided questions on whether any representative was being sent to the swearing-in function.
Apart from Patnaik, Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrashekar Rao, would not attend the function.
West Bengal Chief Minister and and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu have already reached Bengaluru to attend the ceremony.
BJD sources said though Patnaik maintained the "best of relationships" with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's family, he preferred to avoid Kumarswamy's swearing-in so that he was not seen in the function along with Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
The recent statements by two senior Congress leaders Bhakta Charan Das and Sarat Rout also put Patnaik in a fix. The two had publicly said that the Congress was not averse to joining hands with the BJD to keep the BJP out of the power in Odisha, where state assembly polls were due next year.
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