After successfully holding its maiden meet here on Sunday, Pyarimohan Mohapatra’s Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM) is geared up to hold four more conventions, one of which will be in Ganjam, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s home turf.
All the four conventions will be held within the next two or three months. In a direct challenge to Naveen, a convention and rally will be organised in Berhampur, Morcha vice-chairman Rajendra Prasad Singh said on Monday.
Singh said the Morcha office-bearers will meet on October 31 to finalise the dates and venues of the rallies and conventions to be held across the State.
The BJD had organised a rally, attended by Naveen, in Berhampur on October 19, the day Pyari announced the aims and objectives of the Morcha here at a media conference. Ganjam district is considered to be a strong base of the regional outfit from where there are four ministers, including Naveen.
Talking about the future course of action of the Morcha which was floated by Pyari to bring internal democracy in the BJD, Singh said the next convention will be held in the KBK (undivided Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput districts) region.
The move by Morcha is seen in political circles as an attempt to dent the tribal vote-bank of Naveen, which will be crucial in the 2014 elections. The second convention and rally will be held in Berhampur. This will be followed by another convention either in Balasore or Baripada, he said, adding that the last convention in this series will be held in Sundargarh.
Singh said the Morcha will launch its membership drive in November. Membership drive will be held at the same places where the conventions are held. Later, it will be expanded to district, block and panchayat levels, he said.
The Morcha has fixed a target to have 20 lakh to 25 lakh members by March. But everything, including the schedule, will be finalised at the next meeting of the office-bearers on October 31, he said.