LK Advani at Itanagar. PTI

Bhubaneswar/Sambalpur, Oct. 22: All kinds of preparations have been made for L.K. Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra that will enter Orissa on Sunday and move around the state for three days.

BJP workers will receive the yatra at Luhurachati of Bargarh district on the Orissa-Chhattisgarh border. There will be a reception meeting at Sohela of Bargarh district at 3pm. Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh will accompany Advani to Orissa.

The yatra will cover nearly 425 kilometres in Orissa. BJP state unit president Jual Oram said the yatra would highlight “corruption and failures” of the UPA government at the Centre and BJD government in the state. Congress and the BJD leaders, on the other hand, said the yatra would have no impact on the people and Orissa’s politics.

Orissa Pradesh Congress president Niranajn Patnaik said: “The BJP was the alliance partner of BJD for nearly a decade. It would be better if Advanji concentrates on exposing corruption issues relating to the BJD government. The yatra will have neither any impact on Congress nor the UPA.”

Senior BJD leader and finance minister Prafulla Ghadai said: “The people of Orissa are with the BJD and chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The yatra will have no impact on the BJD's prospects.”

On Sunday, a public meeting will be held in Bargarh and at the PHED grounds of Sambalpur, which is considered a BJP bastion. The yatra will pass through Angul, Dhenkanal and Cuttack before its arrival at Bhubaneswar. An intellectual meet will be held at the state capital on October 25 before Advani’s departure from Orissa.

BJP leaders are hopeful that the proposed yatra will strengthen the party’s base in Orissa, where it is passing through a difficult phase.