Odisha bypoll puts key parties to test

Over the past fortnight, Odisha’s Nuapada Assembly constituency, where a bypoll is scheduled on Tuesday, saw unprecedented campaigning. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik held roadshows while Union minister Juel Oram, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, over half of the state Cabinet, and nearly the entire leadership of all major parties canvassed for their respective candidates.

- RAMANI RANJAN MOHAPATRA

Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi (with folded hands) during a recent election campaign at Sunabeda in Komna block of Nuapada district

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This highlights what a crucial role the bypoll —the first since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, ending Patnaik’s 24-year rule — will play in shaping the state’s political equation ahead of the 2027 panchayat elections.

Historically, ruling parties have won nearly two-thirds of the 73 Assembly bypolls held in Odisha since 1955. During its five terms until 2024, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), along with its former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), lost only three of 12 bypolls. However, the Nuapada bypoll, necessitated by the death of three-time BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia, is seen as a key test for the 17-month-old Majhi government as well as BJP’s state chief Manmohan Samal. For the BJD, it is a fight for political survival amid growing internal dissent while the Congress has a rare opportunity to regain ground, said political observers.