How BJP triggered saffron surge in Odisha

New Delhi: The BJP has emerged a power to be reckon with in Odisha where results of the just concluded panchayat and zilla parishad elections saw saffron party’s strength growing nearly by ninefold. 

Highlighting ruling BJD’s ‘aparak (inefficient)’ governance, the BJP not only managed to increase its tally, it also pushed the Congress to the third position. 

Also, chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik was forced to issue a diktat to his party leaders asking them to “start meeting people in your constituencies.” 

Conscious of the fact that “Naveen Babu” still commands respect among the masses, the BJP’s strategy was to corner BJD’s ministers, MLAs and MPs over various issues rather than directly attack Mr Patnaik. Odisha was one of the few states where ‘NaMo’ magic had failed to leave any major mark in the 2014 general elections 

The entire sangh parivar, including the BJP, had been laying the groundwork for local body polls for more than a year, which included making its presence felt at nearly 36,000 booths across the state. 

Earlier, BJP was mostly active in the urban and semi-rural areas. A team of 10 members was deputed in each of these booths, whose primary objective was to get in touch with each and every voter and make them aware of Modi government’s good work and how Odisha was lagging in various development indicators under the BJD rule. 

Along with this, BJP’s poll strategists also involved nearly 15 lakh of the 32 new members, who had enrolled with the saffron party during its nation-wide membership drive and were given just one message from the leadership: “capture each and every vote.” 

RSS men Saudan Singh and Shiv Prakash were part of the team of key strategists that was keeping a regular tab on the election-related activities. Tribal and coastal regions were the main focus of the BJP strategy, where ‘Naveen Babu’ has a strong support base.

To keep the cadre active, BJP had asked its state unit to organise events, meetings and rallies in each district, sending a message the party is “serious in capturing power” in Odisha. 

Earlier, state unit and cadre had on numerous occasions complained that BJP did not look serious about giving a tough fight to its former ally, which is perceived to be more close to the treasury benches than the NDA’s opponents in Parliament.

“BJP was never part of any political discussion in Odisha where political basis is the only polarisation that takes place. Just like any other state, PM Narendra Modi is popular in Odisha but it was perhaps on our (state unit) part that we were not able to take his message and achievements to the people. But we have turned the tide and now our focus is on assembly elections,” said a state BJP leader.

Comparing Odisha with other BJP ruled state, saffron strategists came up with ‘Aagae ho Bharat, aagae ho Odisha’ slogan and highlighted how BJD failed to develop the state despite given so many chances by the electorate. Also, BJP top brass including central ministers had been regularly visiting the state, announcing sops and investments. Mr Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself visited the state thrice since 2014. The BJP which had won only 36, won more than 300 of the 849 seats in this panchayat elections. It’s performance was equally impressive in the zilla parishads this time.