Bhubaneswar: The BJD will celebrate the completion of 82 years of the formation of separate Odisha province for 10 days from April 1, called as Utkal Divas.

During the celebrations, the party leaders and workers have been asked to pay homage to the icons, who had played pivotal role in formation of the province.

BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik has issued a letter to the party cadres to conduct meetings at the block and town level to celebrate the occasion and carry forward the organisational programmes, said party vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra.

The move assumes significance as the BJD preparing itself for the 2019 general elections and the urban polls due early next year.#The BJD government has been naming welfare schemes after popular icons starting from Utkal Gourav Madhusudan, Utkalmani Gopabandu, freedom fighters Buxi Jagabandhu and Parbati Giri to eminent literary personalities Fakir Mohan Senapati and Gangadhar Meher, who had significant contribution to the Odia language movement.

Odisha was declared a separate province on April 1, 1936 on linguistic basis. The state had celebrated the 80 years of formation of the province in 2016 and is preparing a Vision 2036 document keeping the completion of its 100 years in 2036.

"We will take the initiatives by our party government to the people at the grassroots level through our party cadres," said a senior BJD leader.

The BJP, the chief rival of the BJD with the Congress on the wane, on the other hand, has planned to celebrate the occasion (Utkal Divas) in their own way. It will organise a state-level function on the occasion at Baramunda playground in the city to be attended by singer Kailash Kher.

The Congress has alleged that both the BJP and the BJD are trying to hijack Utkal Divas for vested political interests. "Utkal Divas is not any body's parental property. It's an occasion for any Odia to rejoice," said Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati.