The perception in political circles is that your party leadership has selected you to lead the state unit because of your RSS background. It seems that through you the RSS will guide the party in future!

This is not true. There are leaders such as Suresh Pujari, Jual Oram and Debendra Pradhan, who had headed the party in the state, though they didn't have any RSS background. The RSS teaches us to love the country and its rich cultural traditions. Is it a crime to love these? If so, I am ready to commit the crime. There is nothing wrong if they guide us. But, I would like to make it clear that the BJP and the RSS are two different and independent organisations. Though they share similar ideologies at the intellectual level, they don't interfere in each other's sphere of work. The BJP is a political outfit and it decides its own policy and acts accordingly.

You have been picked by the party and not been elected by the party's rank and file. The BJP seems to be following the Congress path by nominating a president instead of electing one. There seems to be no internal democracy (where workers elect their leaders) even in your party.

We have had presidents from different backgrounds. People from humble background such as Amit Shah, Murli Manohar Joshi, L.K. Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, have headed the party at the central level. This is unlike the Congress culture, where the president is from the Gandhi family only. In my case, I was elected and not nominated. I filed the nomination papers and got elected. No one had thrust me on the party. All the leaders have extended their support to me.

Just before the elections, the state BJP vice-president Pratap Sarangi had expressed reservations against your appointment...

We are all eligible for the post. There is nothing wrong if someone airs his views. All of them, including Pratap Sarangi, Bijoy Mohapatra and others, have blessed me.

But we noticed that senior leaders such as Union tribal welfare minister Jual Oram, Bijoy Mohapatra and others were absent during your election.

I talked to them, including Bijoy Mohapatra. Jual Oramji was in Australia on some official work and Dilip Ray was not well. All of them have assured me of their support.

You are being projected as Union minister of state for Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan's man in the party. How do you react to it?

I never believe in worshiping an individual. For me the organisation is important. I am backed by everyone and not by a single individual. I am just a small child like Govinda who aspires to break the dahi handi (the curd-pot) climbing on the shoulders of others - the human pyramid.

Do you think the shoulders on whom you are banking are strong enough to give you that support? Public perception seems to be different.

Public perception will not always guide my family (the party). We have our own issues, which we will be dealt with differently. But, it requires commitment and hard work of the leader, who has been entrusted with the job of leading the party. I must say that these shoulders on whom I will be banking to reach the target are quite strong. I am committed to the cause. Ups and downs will come, but that will not deter me in pursuing my goal. I believe in a poem written by renowned writer Kuntala Kumari Sabat - in which she says you should never feel tired before reaching the goal - I will not get tired. I will go to the grassroots level to gain the confidence of 40 lakh supporters of the party.

You are talking about 40 lakh primary members in your party. But, we noticed that there were no elections at the districts and taluks level. All the office-bearers were nominated.

Do you think that we should indulge in infighting so that you get news. We believe in internal democracy. Our party is not an organisation that centres around an individual family like that of the Gandhi-Nehru family. Here the common man is able to take the mantle of the party. We have so many examples of this .... which you may not find in other parties.

When you were being elected as the party president, a CB>

There is politics in it. Dilip Ray had already given his statement explaining his stand. I will not comment on the functioning of the CB>.

One of the central ministers had raised fingers on the functioning of the CB> and hinted that there was slowdown in its investigation on mining and deposit collection scam that had hit the state.

Both deposit collection and mining scam investigations are being monitored by the apex court. There is no scope for interference either by the BJP or the Centre. The CB>, being an independent agency, is going step by step. I have nothing more to say on this issue.

After assuming power, you raised the issue of Re 1-kg-rice scheme, the BJD's flagship programme. The Congress had raised the same issue and had said the subsidy provided by the state government was peanuts compared to the contribution of the Centre to provide rice at Re 1. It had even filed FIRs, saying that the government, instead of giving 35kg of rice to the families, provided 25kg in the state. The issue fizzled out and the Naveen Patnaik government came to power with a thumping majority. Do you think the rice issue will click?

Even small leakages can destroy a big reservoir. We need to make people aware of how the Centre is giving Rs 27.38 in each kilogram of rice and the state government is only giving only Rs 2 per kg. We will invite the BJD to come for a debate on the issue. Take the example of Tata's Nano factory controversy at Singur in Bengal. While Mamata Banerjee had turned it into a negative campaign, Narendra Modi invited the company to Gujarat and helped it set up its plant. With this kind of initiatives, he became the Prime Minister. We believe in positive development. We will make people aware and once they are sensitised, they will reject the Naveen government.

There is a public perception that the BJD and the BJP are hand-in-glove. It is because both the parties had shared power for a decade. Even when Amit Shah had come to Odisha last year to attend the Mahasangram rally, he did not utter a word against Naveen Patnaik.

In the coming days, we will certainly try to break this perception. We will launch a serious agitation against the Naveen government. We will take the agitation to the grassroots level. You will see the difference.

The BJP was decimated in the last general elections in the state. You could win only one Lok Sabha and 10 MLA seats. How do you hope that the party will come to power?

In the 1980s, we had only two members in the Lok Sabha. Because of consistent effort by our leaders and lakhs of workers, the party came to power under Atalji's leadership. Later, Modi came with a thumping majority. You just wait... the same thing will happen in Odisha... but one has to keep patience and work consistently.

In politics, there are no friends and foes. So if political compulsion dictate, will you tie up with the BJD again?

Yes, I do agree with that. Personally, we are not against any one, not even Naveen Patnaik. But, we have ideological differences and we had bitter experiences with the BJD in the past. Keeping that in mind, I can say that we will not go for any sort of alliance with the BJD in future.

Voices are being raised over growing regional disparity in the state. How do you to propose to address this issue?

We are committed to overall development of Odisha. We do not believe in the development of a particular region whether it's north, south, west or east Odisha. We try to fulfil the aspirations and expectations of every region. Those, who had earlier gone against this principle, I call them krutaghna (ungrateful). They got support from a region for the overall development of the state but ignored the interest of that particular region. Let me cite an example - children will insist before the mother to accept their every demand. But, the mother has to take a balanced view and to see to it that all the children are equally developed. She does not make discrimination among her children.

The demand for formation of a separate Koshal state has gained momentum, threatening to divide Odisha. What are your views?

If the BJP comes to power, it will work for the overall development of the state and not lay emphasis on the development of a particular region. But, one needs to go deep into why such demands are being raised and address the issues.

Keeping in mind the BJP's stand on smaller states, will you support the demand of Koshal?

The BJP is in favour of smaller states. Earlier, it had helped to carve out smaller states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. But, the issue of Koshal is different. People have to go deep to analyse the root cause behind such a demand. Why are such demands coming up time and again? It's the intensity of the people's agitation and the central government's attitude that decide the formation of a state. I am a small sipahi of the BJP. Why are you dragging me into it? At the moment, the question of formation of Koshal state has not come up for any discussion in the BJP. I hope such issue do not come up at any time for discussion.

Now you will have to quit as the BJP legislature party leader. Who will step into your shoes?

The party will decide who will be the BJP's legislature party leader. I am nowhere in the picture. Once the party takes a decision on this, we will abide by it.