New Delhi: That the BJP would win the Nuapada bypoll in Odisha was expected. It’s not often that a ruling party with an absolute majority loses a bypoll. But the bypoll, the first since BJP came to power last year, ending Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal’s 24-year reign in the state, stands out given the scale of party candidate Jay Dholakia’s victory margin.
Jay Dholakia polled a total of 1,23,869 votes, beating the Congress’ Ghasi Ram Majhi by 83,748 votes. BJD’s Snehangini Chhuria came a distant third.
Political analysts see it as a big shot in the arm for Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s 17-month-old government. The victory has given a chance to Majhi to establish his authority over both the government and the party in the state, where he was seen to be a lightweight.
The result also strengthens and re-establishes BJP’s hold in a state where the Opposition is already in disarray.
The results also brought to the fore how the BJD, post last year’s assembly election debacle where the party suffered a humiliating defeat, has failed to regain its influence. In the run-up to the poll, party supremo Naveen Patnaik had campaigned despite failing health.
The Naupada byelection was necessitated by the death of BJD’s Rajendra Dholakia, a four-time MLA, of which three terms were with BJD. He was also a minister in the Patnaik government. Jay is his son but he joined the BJP after his father’s death.
Senior Odisha journalist and former Outlook editor Ruben Banerjee told ThePrint that with the Naupada win, Majhi has also swept under the carpet murmurs of doubt over him, at least for the time being. “This victory allows Majhi to rediscover and reimagine himself. It’s a great opportunity for him… whether he will be able to do or not is a different question,” Banerjee told ThePrint.
The results, Banerjee added, also show that BJD doesn’t seem to have much of a future. “But at the same time they are not going to vanish. The party has the cadre and the money. The bypoll results will raise fresh questions about Patnaik’s leadership within the party. My hunch is, it will continue to play the role of BJP’s B-team.”
BJD had fielded Snehangini Chhuria from Naupada, a predominantly tribal constituency where 33 percent of the electorate are tribal, because she is a Dalit. But it did not seem to have had much impact.
As for the Congress, the party seems to have somewhat revived after last year’s assembly elections but has a long way to go.
Congress Odisha unit president Bhakta Charan Das, who is from Kalahandi, another predominantly tribal constituency, said that Ghasi Ram Majhi was a strong candidate.
“In 2024, Majhi, a tribal, was the runner-up. He had garnered 50,941 votes. What could have impacted his performance was the fact that the Congress did not have much of an organisation in the constituency. But despite this, we continue to be in second position,” Das told ThePrint.
In the 2024 assembly election, BJP candidate Abhinandan Panda came third with 44.814 votes.
Das also accused the BJP for “managing” the election. “They are the ruling dispensation… they managed the bureaucracy and the vote,” the Congress state president said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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