In an apparent move on the line of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Odisha’s ruling BJD led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will hold a rally at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on June 12 to voice its demand for Special Category State (SCS) status to Odisha at the national capital.
Even as a formal decision on the Delhi demonstration would be announced by Patnaik soon, BJD sources said that the party would submit a memorandum with one crore signatures of the State’s people to President Pranab Mukherjee to press its SCS demand on June 12.
The BJD has already sought an appointment from the Rashtrapati Bhavan for submission of the memorandum, besides having taken the permission of the Delhi administration to organise the rally at the Ramlila Maidan.
Senior BJD leaders Kalpataru Das, Debi Prasad Mishra and AU Singh Deo on Friday visited the Ramlila Ground and met the leaders of nearly 40 Delhi-based Odia organisations.
Pro-BJD Delhi-based outfit Yuva Odisha’s president Tejeswar Parida said efforts are on to mobilise at least 50,000 party workers and supporters for the Delhi rally. BJD youth wing spokesperson Bijay Nayak said that nearly 30,000 BJD activists would come to Delhi from Odisha by special trains.