BHUBANESWAR: The spectacular victory of the BJP in the by-election to Nuapada Assembly seat holds immense importance for the ruling saffron party as well as the Opposition BJD and Congress, which will impact the political atmosphere of the state in the coming days.
The outcome will no doubt strengthen the position of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi as it has come as a positive affirmation of people on his 17-month-old government, for which it was the first test of popularity. There were doubts on his choice as the chief minister because he was considered as a lightweight without any administrative experience. After the resounding success in the bypoll, Majhi has set all such doubts to rest. Now his grip in party as well as the government will strengthen substantially, giving him more freedom and authority to act.
With the victory, Majhi has established himself as a leader who can lead from the front with authority both in the government as well as the organisation. He will now have a greater role to play in shaping the future of the government and the party in the Odisha. The CM had taken a personal interest in the bypoll, visiting the constituency several times to lead the campaign for the party candidate Jay Dholakia.
Besides, the result has also brought to the fore the smooth cooperation between the BJP organisation and government. The coordinated action by the BJP organisation led by state president Manmohan Samal and the Majhi government has resulted in such a huge victory in the by-election. It has proved both the wings of the BJP can function in a coordinated and smooth manner to face the challenges in future as the next major test will be the panchayat elections likely to be held in early part of 2027.
But the result has come as a shock for the principal opposition BJD, which is likely to intensify the turbulence within the party in the coming days. The BJD is now in disarray with large number of leaders including MPs and senior leaders quitting and joining the BJP.
A positive result would have given a chance to BJD president Naveen Patnaik to regain his grip over the organisation. But with the party now relegated to third position, its claim to be the main opposition will be questioned.
Dissidence in the party is likely to rear its head again after the realisation that the magic of Naveen Patnaik no longer works with the people. The BJD president had visited Nuapada twice to campaign for the party candidate Snehangini Chhuria. The results have established that his aggressive campaigning with slogans like ‘vote chori’ and ‘candidate chori’ did not work with the people of Nuapada. It will now be testing time both for the BJD and party chief Naveen.
Though the Congress has lost the bypoll, it can take some solace from the fact that the party candidate Ghasiram Majhi secured the second place ahead of the BJD nominee. The Congress’ attempt to position itself as the true opposition in the state ahead of the BJD has now been vindicated to some extent. However, state president Bhakta Charan Das is likely to face challenge from party leaders in the coming days because of his ‘individual’ style of functioning which many in the Congress say has led to the debacle.