Decode Politics: As stage is set for Naveen Patnaik’s exit, what worked for BJP in Odisha

The BJP is set to form its first full-majority government in Odisha with the party leading in around 80 seats, six more than the majority mark in the 147-member Assembly.

The BJD, which ruled the state for 25 years (since March 2000), was struggling to cross the 50-seat mark, while the Congress slightly improved its tally — it had won nine Assembly seats in 2019 —by maintaining a lead in around 14 seats.

Odisha also witnessed a saffron surge in the Lok Sabha polls, with the BJP set to win 19 of the 21 seats, leaving one each for the BJD and the Congress.

Amid talks of a possible alliance with the BJD in the run-up to the general elections, even the BJP cadres in Odisha were confused about the party’s strategy in the state. However, after the seat-sharing talks with the BJD failed, the saffron party tried to build a narrative of “Odia Asmita (pride)”, questioning the growing influence of former IAS officer and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s close aide V K Pandian, who is now in the BJD.

The BJP launched an aggressive campaign for around a month, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading from the front. Senior party leaders such as Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP’s national president J P Nadda and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, known for his fiery and communal speeches, addressed several rallies in the state ahead of the polls.

In his first public meeting on May 6 at Berhampur, PM Modi set the tone by claiming that a BJP CM will take oath in Odisha on June 10.

Knowing well that targeting CM Naveen Patnaik directly may backfire for the BJP — as happened in 2019 when the party won only 23 Assembly seats — the saffron party’s entire campaign revolved around Pandian and his Tamil origin. From the feedback it gathered