Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said the party’s Odisha unit would launch a statewide padayatra on the lines of Bharat Jodo Yatra on October 31 from Bhubaneswar.

The padayatra in Odisha would be launched on October 31, the day when Congress would commemorate the 34th death anniversary of former Prime Minister India Gandhi. She was assassinated on October 31, 1984, in New Delhi, just a day after returning from Odisha where she delivered her famous “blood and unity” speech in Bhubaneswar.

Addressing a press conference here at Congress Bhavan, Ramesh, in presence of senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, said, “The Bharat Jodo Yatra is moving vertically across India, from south to north, Kanyakumari to Kashmir. States such as Odisha cannot logistically be a part of this route. This is why such states will have separate Yatras within the state. Next year, a similar Yatra from east to west can be thought of. However, in Odisha, the Yatra will be called Bharat Jodo Yatra-Odisha.”

Ramesh said while the Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi, directly takes on the BJP and RSS ideology and makes people aware of the alleged attempts being made to divide the people on the basis of religion and caste to gain political mileage, here in Odisha the Yatra would expose the BJD-BJP link.

“Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and BJP are two sides of the same coin. They are indulging in a mock fight here in Odisha to fool the people. In fact, both the BJD-BJP have political ties and they work together. They do have a good understanding. The Congress will target both the parties,” Ramesh said.

Sharpening his attack on the ruling BJD, Ramesh said: “When PM asks CM to sit, he sits. The padayatra in Odisha will seek to bring a change in Odisha, a parivartan in Odisha”

The Odisha unit head Sarat Patnaik said how the BJD remained a mute spectator to the Centre’s policies. “Like the BJP, the Naveeen Patnaik government has also failed in providing employment to its people. The Yatra would cover 2,250km in Odisha covering almost 20 Lok Sabha constituencies out of 21,” said Patnaik.

The party aims to complete the padayatra in Odisha in 100 days.