Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra in Odisha from Oct 31

Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh declared on Sunday that the party will attack both the BJP and the BJD during its state-level "Bharat Jodo Yatra" in Odisha in an effort to topple the Naveen Patnaik administration.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and BJP engage in phoney battles in the state, but in actuality, the two political parties are friends since they coexist, the former Union Minister said during a news conference in Bhubaneswar.

The AICC General Secretary In-Charge of Communication claimed there was no distinction between the BJD and the BJP and asserted that Naveen Patnaik, the chief minister of Odisha, was operating on the orders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Congress will target both political parties during its padayatra, which is set to start on October 31 in Odisha, as BJD and BJP are two sides of the same coin," said Ramesh.

The senior Congress leader stated, "The state-wide 'parikrama' will strive to bring about a 'parivartan' (change of administration) in the state.

Ramesh stated that he will take part in the padyatra being organised at the state level to expose both the BJD and BJP, along with former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh and other senior politicians.

But at the national level, the yatra being organised by Rahul Dandhi will keep focusing on the BJP and RSS to alert people to purported attempts to polarise the populace, he said.

Ramesh asserted that attempts are being made to divide people along religious and caste lines, while the country is plagued by glaring economic disparities, and that the country is currently experiencing an undeclared emergency as a result of the dictatorial approach taken by the Narendra Modi administration.

According to Digvijay Singh, the purpose of the yatra is to get the word out about how the BJP-led government is undermining constitutional institutions by visiting every family and household. He stated that the plan was to stop the BJP and RSS from splitting the nation and protecting the constitution.

In response to a question, Ramesh noted that certain states, notably Odisha, where Rahul Gandhi's current south-to-north yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir is not passing through, are organising state-level yatras. He suggested that perhaps a similar yatra from east to west will be organised the next year.

OPCC President Sarat Pattanayak provided information about the yatra in Odisha and said that during the programme, which will be launched from Indira Gandhi Park in Bhubaneswar on October 31, the Congress will inform people about the failure of the BJP-led Government at the Centre and the BJD regime in Odisha.

According to him, the health and education sectors are being ignored, and people are dealing with difficulties including rising unemployment and unheard-of price increases. He added that the 2250 kilometre yatra will spotlight these challenges for almost 100 days. According to him, the programme will involve daily distances of about 20 km.

He accused the state's BJD government, led by Naveen Patnaik, of being a mute observer to all the wrongdoings of the federal government. Since the BJD and BJP are collaborating on price-related matters, he asserted, the ruling BJD has not spoken out against the Centre.