As double engine takes backseat in Odisha, BJP is pitted against 'firmly rooted' BJD

By Sudhansu R Das

BJP has got 25 years to build its party base in Odisha. After 25 years, it felt helpless and insecure to fight elections on its own strength. The party was almost crazy to have an alliance with the ruling BJD in Odisha. Looking for alliance at the time of election shows that the party has not groomed its grassroots level workers into potential leaders. The state BJP leaders woke up and convinced the Central leaders that they are capable of going solo; the alliance was stillborn. The question is can BJP defeat BJD which is firmly rooted in Odisha after launching piles of populist programs in the state.

Naveen Pattanaik’s government has built many magnificent infrastructures in the state which no other party can imagine. Good roads, flyovers, bridges and stadiums etc add feathers to their achievement though there is over dose of infrastructures which has surpassed the actual demand and has increased the debt burden on the state. On the other hand, the state BJP is backed by Prime Minister’s Modi’s charisma, its powerful organisation network, social media, financial backup and dedicated workers.

The fight between BJD and BJP in Odisha will be a spectacle to watch. The Congress which was waiting for the alliance to happen suddenly finds itself on the back foot; the BJP-BJD alliance would have immensely benefited the Congress party. The Congress party in fact was waiting and was not having a definite plan to improve its prospect in Odisha; internal fighting dogged their fortunes.

The workers and candidates of both the BJP and BJD celebrate the failure of the alliance and are preparing their election game plan with much enthusiasm. The state BJP leadership lacks grass root level knowledge on various issues which will give an advantage to BJD. A few leaders like the former IAS officer cum BJP MP, Aparajita Sadangi have done lots of surveys on the grassroots level issues concerning the state. She may spearhead the BJP campaign in the state. She is a tough fighter and a charismatic leader.

BJP needs strong leaders to counter the growing influence of the Tamilian leader, VK Pandian, the former IAS officer who was inducted in BJD a few months back. Pandian is smart and he has distributed hundreds of state government development schemes among the people. But he can’t speak Odia well which is a clear disadvantage for him. Pandian has not understood the natural sector economy of Odisha, its topography and climate.

He poured more concrete and steel in the natural environment which has increased the summer heat in the state; the summer months continue for more than eight months and give pain and distress to people of Odisha. The state needs dense forest on its coast and more forest cover in the tribal districts to escape the hot climate and frequent cyclones. God has given the natural infrastructure and nature based economy to the state for the survival of the people. It needs knowledge, experience and skills to tap the natural sector.

Congress which was waiting for the alliance to happen suddenly finds itself on the back foot

People of Odisha love Naveen Pattanaik because he is Odia and is the son of the famous Biju Pattanaik. Though Naveen can’t speak Odia clearly, his development vision, clarity of thought and his simplicity make him a popular leader. The election fight in Odisha will be between the two giant leaders of Indian politics: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the tallest CM of India, Naveen Pattanaik. Both are popular and charismatic; it will be a titanic clash between the two supremos.

Here Prime Minister Modi will have the election burden of the entire country and he will have the constraints of coming to Odisha in order to deliver his election speeches, polished with oratorial excellence. Though Naveen Pattanaik’s body does not permit him to take extensive tours, his will is very strong to appear before the voters for a brief time. A few simple words with clear messages from him spell magic in Odisha. He is a great communicator like his father Biju Pattanaik.

The workers of BJD and BJP heavily depend on Naveen’s charisma and Modi’s magic respectively; the double engine has gone to the backseat. No other leader in BJD and BJP has the capacity to attract 2000 people to their meeting place. Being supremo has its own disadvantage also; it does not allow the growth of fire brand leaders in the country. No big tree grows under the shade of the banyan tree.

Not a single Odia leader has grown into big stature in the last 25 years in Odisha. Not a single student leader in Odisha has shined in the last three decades; the student leaders have not taken interest in politics after the emergency which is not good for democracy. Despite the uncertainties of the election outcome the people of Odisha wait for the ensuing Titanic clash.

Comments

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD * It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram* In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

Activists warn of gendered impact of VB-GRAMG Act, seek return to MGNREGA framework

By A Representative The All-India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA), along with the Agrarian Alliance and Workers’ Forum of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), has written to President Droupadi Murmu urging her to call upon Parliament to repeal the newly enacted Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-GRAMG Act) and restore and strengthen the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Stray dogs, an epsilon (ϵ) problem: Of child labour, and the art of misplaced priorities

By Bhaskaran Raman The Greek alphabet ϵ (epsilon) is used in maths and science to denote a quantity which is not zero, but extremely small *** Since the Supreme Court's interim order on the issue of stray dogs came out on 07 Nov 2025, there have been a range of opinion pieces speaking for the voiceless. Most of them take the stance that there is a "problem" with stray dogs, but that we need a humane solution. I agree with this broadly, but I think we need new terminology to talk about this.

Search This Blog