Bhubaneswar, July 4: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today inaugurated over a dozen Nabakalebar and rath yatra-related projects in Puri, even as it became evident that the BJD and the BJP were engaged in a battle of one-upmanship on the issue.

While the chief minister was on an inauguration spree in and around the temple town amidst stray protests at places, including the new state-of-the-art bus stand at Malatipatpur, the BJP sought to turn the focus on itself stating that bigger railway and national highway projects linked to the Nabakalebar and the July 18 car festival would soon be inaugurated by NDA ministers.

The party said that while Union minister for surface transport Nitin Gadkari and minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha would inaugurate the highway and railway projects, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju might also visit Bhubaneswar shortly to inaugurate the first international flight from the Biju Patnaik airport.

While the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has made smooth conduct of rath yatra a prestige issue in the wake of the Brahma paribartan (soul transfer) fiasco at the Puri Jagannath temple by ensuring that infrastructure projects are not only completed well in time but also executed properly, both BJP and Congress, the major Opposition parties have been consistently finding holes in the ruling party's plans.

Keen to regain its lost base, the BJP in particular has been projecting itself as the champion of Odisha's cause for Nabakalebar and rath yatra, the festivals closely linked with the religious and spiritual sentiments of the state.

The two Odia ministers in the Narendra Modi cabinet - Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan - have missed no opportunity to criticise chief minister while telling the people that the NDA government had loosened its purse strings for the twin festivals.

Of the 14 projects inaugurated by the chief minister in Puri today, the focus was mainly on the Rs 73.5 crore bus terminus that has all modern facilities, including a dormitory, a cafeteria, CCTVs and a police outpost.

Interestingly, protesters who had made the recent shutdown in Puri against the Brahma paribartan muddle successful, performed a "cleansing" ceremony at the bus terminal with cow dung and Gangajal after the chief minister left the place. Sources said there were also attempts at certain places to wave black flags at Naveen, but cops managed to keep agitators at bay.

Naveen also inaugurated a 7-km stretch bypass road connecting Malatipatpur to Puri-Konark Road, a new over bridge and a second bridge at Atharanala and a special building for mothers and infants on the premises of district headquarters hospital.

While the chief minister described the projects as important in view of the twin festivals, health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said the hospital facility would be of great help to the people of the town and those coming for rath yatra.