Bhubaneswar, Dec. 23: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik appears to have blinked under pressure from the Opposition and will visit Malkangiri tomorrow.

Both the Congress and the BJP, which have called separate bandhs tomorrow, said the visit was too little and comes too late.

The Opposition's grouse is that more than 130 children have died of Japanese encephalitis during the past four months but the chief minister never cared to visit the tribal-dominated district. They are saying that the latest move from the chief minister comes ahead of the panchayat elections.

Undeterred by the bandh threats of the Opposition, BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said: "These Congress leaders should remember that they also visit different parts of the state."

He, of course, implied that the BJD would oppose visits of Opposition leaders. "It's an official programme and the chief minister has every right to visit any part of the state. It's not proper for the Opposition to indulge in such activities. The programme stands," he told The Telegraph.

Naveen and his ministerial colleagues have been facing black flag demonstrations and egg attacks in various parts of the state.

Today, BJP activists staged a demonstration while Naveen was going to attend the air show in Cuttack. Earlier, fearing black flag demonstrations, a panicky police force had asked women to remove black scarves and stoles at the chief minister's meetings in Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts.

Naveen had later expressed his displeasure at this.

However, Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged that the police had repeated the same thing at the chief minister's meeting at Jeypore in Koraput district yesterday. He said: "This shows the chief minister's double standards."

While his party cadres and official machinery are working overtime for his Malkangiri visit tomorrow, both Congress and BJP leaders have questioned its justification. Former Congress MP from the region Pradeep Majhi, who has been on a sit-in dharna outside Raj Bhavan since December 22 demanding immediate measures to combat Japanese encephalitis, said:

"There is no point in chief minister visiting Malkangiri now as the hundreds of posts of doctors and para-medical staff are still lying vacant in the district and the victims' families have not been given any compensation".

"The chief minister promptly announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the Sum Hospital fire victims. But he did not bother to consider the case of poor tribal children in Malkangiri who died of Japanese encephalitis," said Majhi, adding that still, 55 of the total 109 posts of doctors and 192 of the 639 paramedical posts were lying vacant in the remote district.

BJP state general secretary Bhrigu Buxipatra said the chief minister's motive was solely political.

"The State Election Commission has called an all party meeting on December 26 and the poll schedule is likely to be announced soon after. Prior to that he wants to visit Malkangiri to wind up his campaign," he said.