Interview | PM Modi targets Naveen Patnaik and BJD — asks Odisha a chance for BJP

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted an alliance with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha for the ongoing Lok Sabha election. However, the talks fell through after multiple overtures in the run up to the polls.

Now, Prime Minister Narendra says his party should get a chance to serve the people of Odisha. “Odisha’s self-identity is in danger. Odia language under threat. I don’t think that the people of Odisha will be able to tolerate this for long,” he said in an exclusive interview with Network18 Group’s Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.

Naveen Patnaik has had a firm grip on Odisha. His party, BJD, has won five state elections in a row and he’s been the Chief Minister for 24 years, the second-longest-serving head of an Indian state ever.

The BJD was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by the BJP, between 1999 and 2009. Since Patnaik walked out of the NDA before the 2009 elections, the BJP and BJD aren’t friends, but they aren’t foes either.

While the PM acknowledged the BJD’s ‘issue-based’ support, he did not hold back his attack on the party.

For Patnaik, there are at least two challenges. First, 24 years of built-up anti-incumbency is a tough one to beat. Second, voters tend to back national parties during Parliamentary elections.

However, in BJD’s defence, the party has beat both factors in at least three consecutive elections before 2024.

Interestingly, in Odisha, the elections for both the Parliament and the state assembly take place around the same time. In 2024, there would be simultaneous voting.

BJD’s tally in previous elections

While there has been no explicit alliance, state chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s  party has backed key legislations like the abolition of triple talaq, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, and the amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (commonly known as the UAPA), which were brought in by the BJP.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, in October 2023, Odisha was one of the two states that published a caste census, which the BJP has been opposed to. However, both parties considered an alliance well into early 2024 before giving up altogether.

You can check out the polling dates for each assembly constituency here.

How has the economy of Odisha fared in the recent past?

For long, Odisha, rich in minerals and tribal population, got counted among the laggards by economic performance. Nearly half (43% in FY20) of India’s mineral production comes from Odisha.

However, the size of the economy doubled in the six financial years ending March 2022, according to an India Ratings report.

Odisha was one of two Indian states, the other being Madhya Pradesh, to double its economy during the period.

Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed that the per capita income of Odisha had more than tripled to to ₹1.51 lakh in FY23 from ₹49,227 a decade earlier. That’s a compounded annual growth of 11.84%.

To put it in perspective, Karnataka, which showed the best growth in per capita income between 2013 and 2023, clocked an annual growth of 14.7% to ₹3.02 lakh at the end of the period.

Over 6.2 million people emerged out of the multi-dimensional poverty in the state in the five years ending March 2021, according to data from NITI Aayog, a central government thinktank.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow