Three mainstream political parties in Odisha the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are now competing with each other through massive outreach programmes ahead of forthcoming general and State elections scheduled next year.
The ruling BJD on Monday launched an annual month-long padyatra ‘Jan Sampark Yatra’ on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. According to the BJD’s plan, party workers would undertake padyatra across all the 314 blocks of the State till October 11, the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan.
Setting the tone for the party’s campaign, Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik came down heavily on Opposition BJP and the Congress describing them as “anti-people and anti-development”.
