Why Modi magic didn’t work in Orissa 6% swing works wonders for BJD
Narendra Modi’s hectic campaign in Orissa has failed to produce expected results as the party which expected to get around nine Lok Sabha seats had to content with only one seat — Sundergarh. Similarly, the party’s hope to get around 55 Assembly seats has fallen flat as it tally was limited to only 11, just five more than the 2009 figure. Although there was a palpable wave against the Naveen Patnaik government due to expose of a number of corruption
A huge 6 per cent swing in favour of the Naveen Patnaik led BJD in the twin polls worked wonder for the party in Odisha. The party won 117 of the 147 Assembly seats and bagged 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats, reports our correspondent.
cases, scams and scandals, the party did little to encash it. During the campaign, the party’s state and central leaders targeted the Congress more than the ruling BJD, perceivably its potential rival. This miscalculated move cost heavily to the saffron brigade. The Congress, which was first degenerating in the state due to bitter factional feud, lost nearly 7 per cent of its votes of which 6 per cent went to the BJD. Narendra Modi, who addressed seven public meetings in the state, just asked the voters to send BJP representatives from all the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state. He did not ask voters to change the government in the state.
The voters, who had made up their mind to cast their ballots for BJP, got disillusion in the BJP stand. They thought the BJP was still open to a post- poll alliance with the BJD which had snubbed it as “communal” in 2009. Although the BJP got five years time since 2009 when it was thrown out of an alliance with the BJD, its leaders hardly made any efforts to build up their organisation at the grassroots.