Give BJP a chance to serve you better: PM to Odisha voters; targets Naveen Patnaik, BJD

Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to people in Odisha to give BJP a chance in the Lok Sabha elections so that the party can serve them better. "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.

The PM also acknowledged BJD's 'issue-based' support during his interview.

Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has a firm grip on Odisha and has won five state elections in a row. Patnaik has been a chief minister for 24 years and is the second-longest-serving head of a state.

It is to be noted that BJD was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) between 1999 and 2009. 

Patnaik is facing two challenges in the Lok Sabha elections -- an anti-incumbency factor of 24 years, and voters tend to back national parties during general elections. However, BJD has beaten both factors in at least three consecutive elections before 2024.

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 by BJP.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Odisha was one of the two states that published a caste census in October 2023, which the BJP had opposed. However, both parties considered an alliance well into early 2024 before it was shelved.

BJP has been growing in the state and is now the clear number two, with Congress far behind. Odisha BJP leaders argued that there was no need for the party to enter an alliance and give up the Opposition space.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the talks eventually fell through on the contentious issue of sharing of assembly seats. BJD reportedly did not want to contest on anything less than 100 of the 147 Assembly seats, in the only state where it has a presence. But BJP insisted on around 57 seats.

Gaining foothold

In the 2019 elections, BJP replaced Congress as the main opposition party in the state winning 23 assembly seats as well as 8 Lok Sabha constituencies. The party’s vote share in the Lok Sabha polls showed a rise from 21.9 percent in 2014 to 38.9 percent in 2019, while BJD’s vote share recorded a marginal dip from 44.8 percent in 2014 to 43.3 percent. 

BJP’s vote share saw a huge jump in the assembly polls also from 18.2 percent in 2014 to 32.8 percent in 2019, BJD recorded a marginal gain again with a 45.2 percent vote share against 43.9 percent in 2014. Congress saw its vote share decline from 26 percent to 16.3 percent.