Innings Defeat

Naveen Patnaik's long innings in politics and his uninterrupted reign over Odisha comes to an end

- Priya Ranjan Sahu

THE 2024 elections will be a watershed moment in Odisha’s political history just as the 2000 elections were. In 2000, a meteor called Naveen Patnaik shot to power in the state, defeating the Congress government headed by J B Patnaik. At that time, the newly-formed Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by Patnaik had formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Twenty-four years later, the erstwhile ally BJP has trounced the BJD in the simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and the Odisha assembly ending Patnaik’s uninterrupted reign over Odisha.

Five years ago, the BJD pulled off a landslide victory— bagging 113 assembly and 12 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP had won 23 assembly and eight Lok Sabha seats.

A political greenhorn from the BJP has handed Patnaik a stunning defeat in Kantabanji where he contested apart from his traditional assembly seat of Hinjili. It was Patnaik’s first defeat in his entire political career spanning 27 years.

Undoubtedly, 24-years of Patnaik’s government carried the burden of anti-incumbency. The middle class and youngsters with smartphones had less emotional connection with Patnaik; a new generation of voters that had come up during his reign wanted paribartan (change). But a majority of people, mainly in rural areas and urban slums, had high regard for Patnaik for the people-centric welfare schemes his government had implemented. Women voters seemed to stand solidly behind Patnaik.

The emergence of one man—former IAS officer and Patnaik’s closest aide V K Pandian—made the drastic difference between the situations of 2019 and 2024. In 2019, Pandian was Patnaik’s backroom boy; in 2024, he became the BJD’s most—and only—visible leader after Patnaik. Besides, the BJD paid a big price for hobnobbing with the BJP’s top leadership in Delhi for a long time.

The BJD’s History with the BJP