Odisha Rural Polls: BJP got swept by BJD

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Odisha Rural Polls: BJP got swept by BJD

Looking at the political trends,  it  is apparent to some observers that while the position of Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains unchallenged at the Centre, he is challenged by regional leaders in States. West Bengal, Tamil Nadu are some examples. Odisha has also emerged in the category of states that are out of reach for the BJP.

The Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) massive victory in Odisha’s rural body polls is being seen as a victory for the party’s comprehensive ground coverage, a slew of welfare measures and the personal involvement of Odisha CM and party chief Naveen Patnaik.

The ruling party swept its closest challenger BJP, and the latter’s defeat is being attributed to poor focus and coordination, absence of top leaders in campaigning, and the want of a convincing issue-based narrative, the party’s senior state leaders are now saying. Even its personal attacks on CM Patnaik rang hollow, they add.

The BJD won 766 out of 853 seats — a strike rate of 90 per cent and an increase of 290 seats from the 2017 polls — while the BJP fell to just 42 ‘zilla parishad’ (District Development Council) seats this time, from the 297 seats it won in 2017. This figure is similar to its tally of 36 in 2012. The Congress, which got 60 ‘zilla parishad’ seats in 2017, got just 37 seats this time.

The rural polls are regarded as a crucial test before the all-important national and state elections in 2024, and the BJP’s hope for a breakthrough in Odisha has suffered a bitter blow.

In 2017, the BJP formed the 'zilla parishad’ in eight districts, whereas this time, it has failed to form a single one. Indeed, in 10 districts of Odisha, the BJP has not won any seat at all. The BJD, meanwhile, is set to form ‘zilla parishads’ in all 30 districts of the state — an unprecedented electoral feat before the 2024 assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

In all, the BJD received 52.73 per cent of the votes, while BJP got 30.07 per cent and the Congress 13.57 per cent.

The results show that the BJD’s appeal to voters under Naveen Patnaik, who is serving his fifth term as chief minister, remains undiminished.

 

BJP campaign had little focus

Compared to the BJD, whose door-to-door campaign covered the ground exhaustively, the BJP campaign was seen as ill-coordinated and running from the camp of only a few leaders, writes Shanker Arnimesh ( Editor, ThePrint).

That strategy paid off in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2019 when, riding on the ‘Modi wave’, the BJP won eight Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, including five in western Odisha and the Mayurbhanj seat in northern Odisha.

Before 2019, however, the BJP challenged BJD hegemony in the ‘panchayat’ (rural body) polls in 2017, winning 297 seats. This laid the ground for an impressive Lok Sabha poll results, where the BJP won a 38.4 per cent vote share.

In addition to this, it got a 32.5 per cent vote share in the assembly polls and bagged 23 assembly seats.

However, party leaders say that unlike the 2017 ‘panchayat’ polls, the party’s campaign was not focused in these rural body polls.

 

CM Naveen Patnaik’s welfare model

CM Patnaik, meanwhile, learnt his lesson from the 2017 ‘panchayat’ results, says Arnimesh. Unlike then, when he did not campaign in person, this time, he took a special effort to do so.

Apart from the BSKY health insurance cards (program to provide universal health coverage), other government schemes the BJD played up included help for construction and repair of homes, raising the upper age limit for government jobs to 38 years, and a 50 per cent increase in salary of junior teachers. All this cemented Patnaik’s image as a CM who works for the welfare of the poor.

Around 3.5 crore people were meant to get the BSKY health cards, with Patnaik himself visiting different districts to distribute health cards in person or through video conferencing.

 

Booster for 2024 general elections

The outcome underscores Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s political invincibility that seems to have acquired almost mythical dimensions with his party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), making a habit of winning elections.

In power for the last 21 years, the BJD has re-asserted its supremacy with a record-breaking victory in the just-concluded ‘panchayat’ elections in the state.

The rural polls were seen as a kind of dress rehearsal for the general elections of 2024 and the opposition had sought to turn it into a virtual referendum on the performance of the Patnaik government. The results reflect complete dominance of BJD.

The spectacular victory of BJD comes as a big morale booster for the party which is already gearing up for the general elections of 2024.


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