Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) on Tuesday launched a padayatra from Bhubaneswar to Puri. The yatra will reach Puri on February 20.

After being appointed the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief, former union minister Bhakta Charan Das had decided to take the new responsibility after paying darshan to Lord Jagannath in Puri. He also said that he wouldn’t make any political statements till the padayatra was over. The Congress has named its proposed journey from Bhubaneswar to Puri as “Sankalpa Yatra.”

Despite the scorching heat, hundreds of Congress supporters, including senior leaders, joined the padayatra that started from Bhubaneswar airport. Several banners and posters carrying photos of Das, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, as well as AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, dotted the route from Bhubaneswar to Puri.

During the three-day padayatra, the Congress leaders will rest at different places and try to seek public opinion on the current dispensation.

The Congress, which has been out of power in Odisha since 2000, is hopeful that it can revive itself since a vacuum has been created after the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was uprooted from power by the BJP. The BJD is now sitting in Opposition for the first time. On the other hand, the current BJP government led by Mohan Charan Majhi is losing support very fast. That gives Congress further hope of making a comeback.

The party currently has 14 MLAS and one MP. It has been playing the role of an aggressive Opposition in the state. Analysts believe the party only needs a charismatic leader to change its fortune. Could Bhakta Das be that leader? Only time will tell.