Every year, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) launches its Jan Sampark Padayatra on October 2. The party had resolved to conduct the padayatra on Gandhi Jayanti. However, due to the Dussehra holidays this time, the party has decided to start it from October 9, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das.
The event will run for a month. Unlike previous years, when it started from Bhubaneswar’s Ekamra Assembly constituency, this year’s padayatra will begin from Gopabandhu’s native village, Suando, as announced by MLA Pramila Mallik. BJD president Naveen Patnaik will participate in the program, she added.
According to party sources, the padayatra starting from Gopabandhu Jayanti on October 9 will involve door-to-door campaigns to highlight the successes of the Naveen Patnaik government and the failures of the current BJP government, aiming to create public awareness.
This month-long initiative covers every ward, block, panchayat, zilla parishad, urban area, and assembly constituency until November 9.
During the Jan Sampark Padayatra, the party will showcase people-oriented programs implemented during Naveen Patnaik’s tenure, while also raising awareness about the current government’s failure to fulfill promises, exploitation and atrocities against women, deterioration of law and order, attempts to undermine democratic and constitutional systems in panchayats, indifference to farmers’ issues, problems faced by youth and students, rising prices, neglect of SC & STs, and OBCs, among various other topics.
