How did the BJP sweep Odisha?
This was more a vote against the incumbent BJD as for the BJP.
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Nationally, the Bharatiya Janata Party should be disappointed by its Lok Sabha results. From setting out an aim of “400 paar”, crossing 400 seats, the BJP leads in just 232 seats as of 6 pm on Tuesday. This is a loss of 71 seats compared to its 2019 tally.
However, the brightest spot in this overall disappointing result is the state of Odisha. The state saw simultaneous polls, electing both representatives to the Lok Sabha as well as the Assembly. In the latter, the saffron party currently leads in a comfortable 80 seats. If these hold, it would be well on course to forming the next state government.
The Lok Sabha results are even more overwhelming. The BJP leads in 19 seats in the state out of a total of 21. The Biju Janata Dal which currently runs the state government has exactly one seat.
What explains this incredible result for this saffron party?
Voting out
The first and most important reason is anti-incumbency. This is a vote against the BJD – not for the BJP, per se. Naveen Patnaik has been chief minister of the state for an incredible 24 years making him the second-longest-serving chief minister of any Indian state.
A significant reason for this was the lack of...
