Battle weary Bharatiya Janata Party must be wondering which should be the destination in the Eastern part to pitch on next. The obvious choice is West Bengal’s neighbor, Odisha, where  Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal is firm on its citadel for over three decades.

It is a different matter that, the BJP has failed in the last three general elections to shake the BJD out but, there has been a noticeable improvement in its vote percentage and number of seats in the state assembly.

Regardless of the recent bonhomie between the Modi-led dispensation and the BJD, it would be politically incorrect to expect that the BJP would not resort to harder options to capture power or create a situation where it can wrest power.

 Maybe it is still a long way to go to the polls in Odisha but there are certain factors on which the BJP may prefer to workout on in advance.

The most compelling one among them is that the BJD has a reason to worry about the anti-incumbency factor, a common reason any poll analyst would not ignore. And, so should the party in power in Odisha.

In the local television discussions, the BJP spokespersons go a notch higher in their attacks on the BJD reducing it to a non-performing government from several aspects and few allegations are on crime control and unaccountability and, indulging in hijacking Central schemes and copy-paste on BJD worksheets.

But the leader-in-chief in Odisha views that, it is the development as the end card that matters and such campaigns hamper development at the ground.

However, the chief minister in Odisha usually remains unfazed by such tirades and his way of rebuttal is a composed one and he keeps highlighting without bothering about what others say.

While, in contrast, in West Bengal, the BJP, in spite of losing to TMC, still continues with the provocative teasing to upset Mamata Banerjee, who easily gets provoked and takes matters to the streets.

But that is not the case with Naveen Patnaik. He simply ignores the diatribes and goes his way.  Nor BJP’s religious firepower is going to pay any dividend in Odisha. But the BJD cannot afford to be complacent in any way as nobody knows what is there in the minds of people. 

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

₹ 10 - ₹ 1000

NYOOOZ FRIEND

₹ 2000 - ₹ 5000

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.

Stay updated with all the Latest Bhubaneswar headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.