Bhubaneswar: The ruling party of Odisha had undertaken several course correction measures in the western districts of the state apart from Mayurbhanj and Malkangiriknown to be traditional BJP bastions, after the former’s drubbing there in the 2017 panchayat polls followed by the Lok Sabha election in 2019.
The move paid off with the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD making huge electoral gains by wresting the maximum number of seats from the BJP.
In 2017, the BJP had won 169 out of the total 212 district parishad seats in the eight western districts of Balangir, Bargarh, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, Malkangiri, Sonepur and Sambalpur besides Mayurbhanj and Malkangiri, while the BJD had managed to keep only 33. In 2019, the BJP had won all five Lok Sabha seats in the region, along with the Mayurbhanj LS seat.
If the trends of the first two days of counting (Saturday and Sunday) are any indication, the BJD is going to win more than 80% of the seats in Kalahandi, Balangir, Bargarh, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Sundargarh besides Mayurbhanj and Malkangiri . The BJD had faced a humiliating defeat in this entire region in the last rural polls.
The BJD insiders said its focus on the western districts and some other BJP strongholds was aimed at stopping the growth of the saffron party in the state ahead of the 2024 general elections. The western region has as many as 35 assembly segments and five Lok Sabha seats. By forming the zilla parishad councils in the above-mentioned districts, the ruling dispensation is trying to send a message that is still a formidable force in the state.
To regain lost ground, the BJD changed its organizational structures by roping in some of the senior leaders as in-charge of the western districts, along with Mayurbhanj and Malkangiri. The party’s organizational secretary, Pranab Prakash Das, himself looked after the organizational works in Mayurbhanj, where BJD had won only two of the nine assembly segments last time.
“Our organizational secretary worked round-the-clock to strengthen the party base not just in Mayurbhanj, but also in the western districts where we could not fare well in 2019. We not only restructured the party organisation, but also ensured the successful implementation of the welfare schemes of the state government, which helped us register a thumping victory,” BJD’s Subash Singh said.
The move paid off with the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD making huge electoral gains by wresting the maximum number of seats from the BJP.
In 2017, the BJP had won 169 out of the total 212 district parishad seats in the eight western districts of Balangir, Bargarh, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, Malkangiri, Sonepur and Sambalpur besides Mayurbhanj and Malkangiri, while the BJD had managed to keep only 33. In 2019, the BJP had won all five Lok Sabha seats in the region, along with the Mayurbhanj LS seat.
If the trends of the first two days of counting (Saturday and Sunday) are any indication, the BJD is going to win more than 80% of the seats in Kalahandi, Balangir, Bargarh, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Sundargarh besides Mayurbhanj and Malkangiri . The BJD had faced a humiliating defeat in this entire region in the last rural polls.
The BJD insiders said its focus on the western districts and some other BJP strongholds was aimed at stopping the growth of the saffron party in the state ahead of the 2024 general elections. The western region has as many as 35 assembly segments and five Lok Sabha seats. By forming the zilla parishad councils in the above-mentioned districts, the ruling dispensation is trying to send a message that is still a formidable force in the state.
To regain lost ground, the BJD changed its organizational structures by roping in some of the senior leaders as in-charge of the western districts, along with Mayurbhanj and Malkangiri. The party’s organizational secretary, Pranab Prakash Das, himself looked after the organizational works in Mayurbhanj, where BJD had won only two of the nine assembly segments last time.
“Our organizational secretary worked round-the-clock to strengthen the party base not just in Mayurbhanj, but also in the western districts where we could not fare well in 2019. We not only restructured the party organisation, but also ensured the successful implementation of the welfare schemes of the state government, which helped us register a thumping victory,” BJD’s Subash Singh said.
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