"SANKHA, sankha!" says a vegetable seller in Sambalpur emphatically, when asked who he would vote for this time in the elections. Sankha-the conch shell-is the electoral symbol of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which is vying for an unprecedented sixth consecutive term in office. When asked about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) flag also attached to his cart, he responds: "They are the same. They are together." Across towns and villages of western Odisha, people have been trying to make sense of the BJD and the BJP's electoral campaigns, locked in an apparently no-holds-barred fight for regional power. This has happened less than two months after they seemed to be on the verge of a pre-election agreement that would have virtually sealed the fate of the state for the next five years even before a single vote was cast.
Now, it has rapidly become one of the most high-pitched battles of the remaining phases of the electoral contest, not the least because the assembly elections for the mineral-rich state are also being held simultaneously. Five-time chief minister Naveen Patnaik may be in for the most serious challenge to his leadership in decades.
As his car trails the narrow, zig-zag streets of old Sambalpur on the way to a roadshow and a campaign meeting, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan feigns ignorance about the alliance plans. "We (the BJP and the BJD) have been fighting with each other at the political level for the last three elections. Due to a lack of governance and a lack of vision, people are unhappy with the incumbent government and its leadership. People want a change," he claims.
Pradhan, the most high-profile face of the BJP in Odisha, has returned to the state after a gap of more than two decades, having served as a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh from 2012 to 2024, and holding important portfolios in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 01, 2024-Ausgabe von Outlook.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 01, 2024-Ausgabe von Outlook.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Trump's White House 'Waapsi'
Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election may very well mean an end to democracy in the near future
IMT Ghaziabad hosted its Annual Convocation Ceremony for the Class of 2024
Shri Suresh Narayanan, Chairman Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited, congratulated and motivated graduates at IMT Ghaziabad's Convocation 2024
Identity and 'Infiltrators'
The Jharkhand Assembly election has emerged as a high-stakes political contest, with the battle for power intensifying between key players in the state.
Beyond Deadlines
Bibek Debroy could engage with even those who were not aligned with his politics or economics
Portraying Absence
Exhibits at a group art show in Kolkata examine existence in the absence
Of Rivers, Jungles and Mountains
In Adivasi poetry, everything breathes, everything is alive and nothing is inferior to humans
Hemant Versus Himanta
Himanta Biswa Sarma brings his hate bandwagon to Jharkhand to rattle Hemant Soren’s tribal identity politics
A Smouldering Wasteland
As Jharkhand goes to the polls, people living in and around Jharia coalfield have just one request for the administration—a life free from smoke, fear and danger for their children
Search for a Narrative
By demanding a separate Sarna Code for the tribals, Hemant Soren has offered the larger issue of tribal identity before the voters
The Historic Bonhomie
While the BJP Is trying to invoke the trope of Bangladeshi infiltrators”, the ground reality paints a different picture pertaining to the historical significance of Muslim-Adivasi camaraderie
