Odisha Assembly and Lok Sabha elections 2019: Naveen Patnaik's new team scores the goal

The BJD had this time changed candidates for at least 80 Assembly segments and dropped 56 sitting MLAs to field 63 new faces.
Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik during a meeeting with newly elected MPs at Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneswar on 26 May 2019. (Photo | Biswanath Swain P, EPS)
Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik during a meeeting with newly elected MPs at Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneswar on 26 May 2019. (Photo | Biswanath Swain P, EPS)

BHUBANESWAR: Managing the simultaneous elections was altogether a different ball game for Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik in face of anti-incumbency and the surging Narendra Modi wave. With a well laid-out plan of replacing more than half the candidates for the 147-member House to ensure that personal anti-incumbency does not impact the party’s electoral prospects, Naveen silenced his critics and scripted BJD’s fifth straight win, a unique record which will stand the test of time.

The BJD had this time changed candidates for at least 80 Assembly segments and dropped 56 sitting MLAs to field 63 new faces. In a few constituencies, the party repeated its candidates who faced defeat last time while in some seats, former MLAs were given chance. The result was on the expected line. As many as 44 new candidates came out successful while only 19 bit the dust.   

Prominent leaders who were dropped included Jugal Kishore Patnaik, Sanjeeb Sahoo, Jogendra Behera, Debashish Nayak, Sanand Marandi and Praveen Chandra Bhanjdeo.With new faces at the hustings, BJD swept to power riding on its performance in western, southern and coastal Odisha region, the party’s stronghold, with a total tally of 112 seats. The party’s worst performance was in Mayurbhanj district where it could win only three seats compared to BJP’s six.

Similarly, the party dropped 16 sitting MPs and fielded eight freshers who were new to politics. Notwithstanding the Modi wave, four among them were elected to the Parliament. Of 12 BJD MPs elected this time, highest 42 per cent (five) are women.   

The freshers fielded by BJD for Lok Sabha include Pramila Bisoyi from Aska, Chandrani Murmu from Keonjhar, Manjulata Mandal from Bhadrak and Sarmistha Sethi from Jajpur. All the four have been elected to the Parliament.

The new faces who won the Assembly election with handsome margin include Minakshi Mahanta from Champua, Jagannath Naik from Patna, Basanti Hembram from Karanjia, Sudhansu Sekhar Parida from Remuna, Sanjib Mallick from Bhadrak, Sunanda Das from Bari, Ashok Bal from Korei, Ramesh Chandra Sai from Athamallik and Mousadhi Bag from Dharmagarh.

In some of the constituencies, new BJD faces fared extremely well against heavyweight candidates of the opposition. Prominent among them are Saroj Kumar Meher and Raghunandan Das who defeated leader of BJP Legislature Party KV Singhdeo in Patnagarh and former Minister Damodar Rout in Balikuda-Erasama respectively.         

A BJD insider said as per the strategy, non-performing MPs were not renominated. The message was loud and clear for everyone to not take his/her renomination for granted. This was the way to fight anti-incumbency, he said.

“Similar was the case with sitting MLAs who were dropped. While the Chief Minister’s image was intact, it were the MLAs who had lost popularity. Nonperformance was also the criteria behind denial of their renomination. The plan worked wonders for BJD,” he maintained.

Success strategy

● The BJD had this time changed candidates for at least 80 Assembly segments and dropped 56 sitting MLAs to field 63 new faces
● 44 new candidates came out successful while only 19 bit the dust
● The party dropped 16 sitting MPs and fielded eight freshers who were new to politics
● Of 12 BJD MPs elected this time, highest 42 per cent (five) are women

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com