Berhampur: All eyes of the people here are on Khallikote College stadium here where several political leaders and workers, who have resigned from the Congress, would join the BJD in the presence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik on April 4 afternoon.

"We have finalised the venue after a series of meetings," said BJD Ganjam unit president Pradip Panigrahi.

Former Union minister of state for rural development Chandrasekhar Sahu, district congress committee president Bhagaban Gantayat, Youth Congress leader Bikram Panda, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) secretary T. Premanjali and many other senior leaders recently resigned from the party after a series of meetings with their supporters.

Gantayat said: "We have decided to quit the Congress seeing that there is no future for our political career as indiscipline and factionalism is growing within the party with every passing day.

BJD MLA from Berhampur Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik said that these leaders would join the BJD during Naveen Patnaik's visit to the city on April 4. Sahu and Panda were recently selected as members of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC).

OPCC vice-president and discipline committee chairperson Sandhya Rani Mohapatra visited the Congress Bhavan here on Friday to assess the party's affairs in the district and motivate young party workers.

"Congress has never ignored Sahu and Panda. Congress had given them party tickets in elections despite their repeated defeats. Sahu praised the role of Sonia Gandhi in his political career during the recent workers' meeting at Satyabhama Kalyan Mandap here. But at the same time, he is complaining that he was ignored. It is contradictory. These leaders have used Congress as an instrument for their political benefit and their departure would only strengthen our party further," said Mohapatra. BJP Ganjam leader Kanhu Charan Pati described the BJD as a sinking ship. "Joining of the Congress leaders in the BJD would have no impact on the political scenario in the district," he said.