Bhubaneswar, Oct. 22: A few days after chief minister Naveen Patnaik claimed that his “every bone is secular” and termed Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal “fundamentalist outfits”, two of his cabinet colleagues today participated in a VHP-sponsored yajna performed here to “defeat anti-Hindu forces”.

Revenue minister Manmohan Samal and co-operation minister Surama Padhi were seen participating in the concluding ceremony of the yajna by the VHP-supported Swami Laxmananda Saraswati Sraddhanajali Samiti here this morning.

They accompanied RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan who offered the “purnahuti” at yajna site and broke the fast launched by Swami Jeevan Chaitanya, a VHP central advisory committee member. Chaitanya was on an indefinite fast demanding arrest of those behind the killing of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati. Chaitanya and 70 other Hindu monks had been staging a dharna near the Assembly here on a five-point charter of demands.