BJD's comeback? A tricky course

With a 40.22% vote share in Assembly polls, it remains Odisha's preeminent party but is untested in the Opposition space, explains RAMANI RANJAN MOHAPATRA

- RAMANI RANJAN MOHAPATRA

The camaraderie between Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (both pictured) was in focus last week at the swearing-in of Mohan Charan Majhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) first chief minister in Odisha, amid swirling questions over the regional party's future following its recent electoral defeat.

Until just a fortnight ago, these two parties once allies were engaged in their fiercest battle yet, with Modi hinting at conspiracies surrounding the 77-year-old Patnaik's health during public rallies. The victory of the BJP, which secured 78 seats in the 147-member Assembly, thwarted Patnaik's bid to become the longest-serving CM. The BJD won 51 seats in the Assembly, but lost all 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in the simultaneous elections.

Political observers attribute the BJD's defeat to anti-incumbency and the rising influence of Tamil Nadu-born VK Pandian, Patnaik's private secretary for over a decade before joining the BJD. "Over the past some years, no political representative was allowed to go up to the stage and give a speech. Had Patnaik not allowed this, Pandian couldn't have done the damage," said Tathagata Satpathy, former BJD MP and editor of two dailies published in Odisha.

Following Biju Patnaik's death in 1997, some Janata Dal legislators considered joining the BJP but feared losing their membership under the anti-defection law. This led to the formation of the BJD, helped by the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, who sought to leverage Biju's popularity to strengthen his party's base in Odisha and oust the then Congress government, said Congress leader Panchanan Kanungo, who was with the Janata Dal at that time.