BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly poll results in the three Hindi heartland states has a distinct message for Naveen Patnaik ahead of the 2019 elections and it is not heartening. The virtual rout of BJP reflects the force of anti-incumbency and the people’s desire for change which the Modi magic combined with sustained personal popularity of Chief Ministers Dr Raman Singh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, excluding Vasundhara Raje, could not prevent.
While BJP has been humbled and Congress resurgent, the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh results should leave the BJD camp in Odisha a worried lot. Supremo Naveen Patnaik may have defied anti-incumbency in a historic 18-year run but 2019 would be his biggest challenge.
Despite the clatter surrounding the final phase of his fourth term, Naveen continues to be the undisputed political leader in Odisha. His popularity towers above everyone else, much like counterparts Dr Singh or Chouhan who were the most-preferred by voters and yet made to bite the dust at the hustings.
They were done in by the disenchantment of the people with their governments, a situation Naveen may well find himself confronting in coming days. Slowly but surely, his legislators have been losing faith of the electorate. A recent survey had shown that a majority of people may repose faith in Naveen as the CM but would not vote for their local MLAs.
The Chief Minister appears to have read the signals and in the past couple of years made a conscious effort to turn the upcoming elections into a personality battle, where he dwarfs all his challengers. Every aspect of his government, every scheme launched has his personal touch with a direct connect with the beneficiaries. He has been personally reaching out to the people through direct interactions and engagements.
But will that be enough to steer the BJD through for yet another term? While all-out efforts are being made to project the Government’s pro-poor, pro-development initiatives along with the accomplishments in every field, basic issues continue to prevail. There is an evident dissatisfaction among farmers while joblessness, healthcare and education, drinking water and irrigation, etc. are still major issues.
Further, Naveen and his BJD will now have to deal with twin challenges from BJP and the Congress. Staring at an apparent loss of seats from its Hindi heartland strongholds in 2019, the BJP will be much more focused on Odisha, which it already sees as a potential State to give it numbers.
On the other hand, the grand old party’s house might not be in order with rampant infighting and desertions but the triple victory will definitely re-energise the state organisation and instill the fight in the cadre.
Both the parties, in fact, are already set to launch their onslaught with none other than their talismans Modi and Rahul Gandhi holding rallies in the State this month.
A master of the perception game, Naveen will have to go beyond the sop announcement spree and social media offensive to stonewall the opposition. His connect with the voters will be the key but BJD, as an outfit, must rally behind him while how he projects his party’s good governance branding to the young voters will be a deciding factor. At present, there is too much of Biju Yuva Bahini activity in the villages which is not doing his clean image any good.