BJP, BJD cross swords over western Odisha

Narendra Modi and Naveen Patnaik

Two major rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are leaving no stone unturned to reap maximum political dividends in Western Odisha as the state gears up for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in April-May. The western region has as many as 35 assembly segments and five Lok Sabha seats.

Leading up to the parliamentary polls, the BJP expects a significant boost to its prospects from the hype around the recent Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya, as well as the growing vote-catching ability of the Prime Minister.

Why mandate 2024 is so crucial

As both the BJP and the BJD are making a serious bid for power in the state, BJD led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is attempting to rewrite history by becoming the first party ever to register a sixth straight win at the hustings.

BJD's changed strategy

BJD changed its organisational structure by roping in some of the key leaders to be in charge of the western districts.

Various media reports quoting party insiders said, BJD not only restructured the party organisation, but also ensured the successful implementation of the welfare schemes of the state government. This was strategically done with an aim to stop the growth of BJP in the state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Over the last five years, BJD has taken up a slew of developmental projects, including irrigation projects, to move ahead of the BJP. Last month, the BJD unveiled the grand Maa Samlei Heritage Corridor project in Sambalpur, under which the temple of Maa Samaleswari in the western Odisha town was given a huge facelift for Rs 200 crore.

In 2017, the BJP had won 169 out of the 212 zilla parishad seats in the eight western districts of Balangir, Bargarh, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, Sonepur and Sambalpur besides Mayurbhanj and Malkangiri, while the BJD had managed to keep only 33. However, BJD trumped BJP in the 2022 panchayat polls and 2023 urban body polls in entire western Odisha.

Behind BJP’s renewed push in western Odisha

BJP believes that it lost considerable ground to the Biju Janata Dal since the last Lok Sabha polls where it won eight of 21 Parliamentary seats - of which five seats were from the western part of the state. This includes Sambhalpur, where the Maa Samaleshwari project is being inaugurated on Feb 27.

Modi’s public gathering in Sambalpur is being seen as the BJP’s attempt at an aggressive campaign in western Odisha, where it has lost territory to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) since the last Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

Revisiting past poll outcomes
In the 2019 elections, Odisha had simultaneous assembly and general elections. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) swept to power, winning 112 of the 147 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was far behind with just 23 seats, while the Congress won nine.

The BJP bettered its electoral performance in 2019 Lok Sabha polls winning 8 out of 21 seats in the state, while the BJD's performance dropped significantly from 20 seats in 2014 to just 12 seats.