In rally mode: Anubhav Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, June 10: For matinee idol and BJD’s new star Anubhav Mohanty, it will be baptism by fire at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan.

While BJD leaders, especially those from the coastal belt, are leaving no stone unturned to make the June 12 Swabhiman Samavesh in Delhi a success, Anubhav is bracing for the big show.

Along with chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Anubhav is expected to be the crowd-puller for the rally that seeks to draw the Centre’s attention to Odisha’s demand for special state status.

The actor, who was inducted into the party last month, has till now been sidelined as a number of leaders were opposed to his joining the party.

However, Anubhav, who got a call to join the rally at the last minute, is upbeat.

“I will join the party’s Swabhiman rally. I will reach Delhi on Tuesday,” said Anubhav.

Earlier, actor-turned-MP Siddhant Mohapatra was the star campaigner for the BJD, but Anubhav’s entry has made him uncomfortable, said sources.

Special trains carrying the BJD supporters today left for Delhi from seven destinations — Rourkela, Sambalpur, Koraput, Cuttack, Jajpur, Puri and Berhampur — with placards voicing their anger against the Centre’s “apathy” towards Odisha.

Posters carrying the BJD’s demand for special status for Odisha with Naveen’s photo were pasted on all the trains.

As the cadres took the rail route to Delhi, Naveen and most of his ministers, including Damodar Rout, Kalpataru Das, Bijayshree Routray, government chief whip Pravat Tripathy and other senior leaders, today flew to the national capital.

Rout said: “It is a public demand and not a battle of the BJD alone...”

In another development, a delegation of the Pradesh Congress Committee has decided to call on governor S.C. Jamir on Tuesday.

“The Odisha government has utterly failed in spending central funds to carry out various programmes across the state. We will demand a CBI inquiry into the non-utilisation of funds,” said Pradesh Congress Committee president Jaydev Jena.

Jena said around 2,000 Congress workers from across the state would take part in a dharna outside Raj Bhavan in protest against the rally.

Naveen’s archrival and president of the Odisha Jan Morcha Pyari Mohan Mohapatra has also planned a meeting in Berhampur on June 12, coinciding with the Delhi rally.