Bhubaneswar, Jan. 15: The Odisha BJP unit today decided to draft Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh to counter the BJD's high-decibel campaign on the Mahanadi dispute in the run up to the forthcoming panchayat polls.

The presence of Singh is bound to raise the political temperature in the state as the BJD had been accusing the BJP- run Chhattisgarh and the Union governments of neglecting Odisha's interest.

The Chhattisgarh government has also been accused of constructing dams and barrages on the Mahanadi upstream, a move that will affect water flow into Odisha.

The two parties are already on the path of a confrontation with the BJD accusing the BJP of engineering CBI raids in the money deposit collection scam. The state's vigilance wing's raid on a gas agency belonging to the brother of Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan, supposed to be the party's chief ministerial candidate for the state, is being interpreted by political circles as an act of retaliatory measure.

The BJP today revised its list of star campaigners to include, among others, Singh and Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das to campaign for the party in next month's panchayat elections.

"Dr Raman Singh enjoys enormous popularity among the people in the bordering districts and people in those areas depend on Raipur and not Bhubaneswar. Dr Singh's performance in Chhattisgarh is there for people to see," said BJP state unit vice-president Samir Mohanty.

Asked whether Singh's visit will shift the focus of the campaign on Mahanadi river or not, Mohanty said: "We are a national party. One should not connect the Mahanadi dispute to his visit. The BJP is committed to take all the steps to protect Odisha's interests."

That the BJD will not make it smooth for Singh to campaign became evident from party vice-president Surya Narayan Patro's reaction.

"When Dr Singh visits, he will certainly face a barrage of questions on the Mahanadi water dispute. People will expect him to explain his state's stand on the water dispute. We are eagerly waiting for his visit to the state." Patro said.

The BJD has been campaigning against the central neglect and has whipped up passions of the people as the Mahanadi is the lifeline for 15 of 30 districts. On Saturday, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had spoken about the state becoming a victim of neglect and conspiracies.

The BJP today announced that its national president Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will attend the installation ceremony of a new idol of Goddess Bimala on the premises of Govardhan Peeth - the seat of Puri Shankaracharya, on January 20. State BJP leaders will take the opportunity to apprise Shah of the BJP's panchayat poll preparedness.

While BJP maintained silence on yesterday's vigilance raids, BJD vice-president and minister Damodar Rout said: "Dharmendra Pradhan is neck deep in corruption. An investigation should be done how and when did Pradhan's brother get the gas agency at Talcher. Now that irregularities have been detected, Pradhan's elder brother Soumendra Pradhan should surrender his licence."