Political analysts claim that Shri Naveen Patnaik’s popularity with the populace, despite more than 22 years in power, is a result of a combination of a deliberate narrative developed around him and welfare politics.
The BJP was trying to establish a presence in the coastal state of Odisha when the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was created. However, the BJP soon realised that the only way to do this was to forge an alliance with a neighbouring country. The BJD, led by Naveen Patnaik, the son of former chief minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik, was this region’s partner. It was created from a Janata Dal group that broke away.
Ironically, the BJP is now the BJD’s largest opponent as the party prepares to run for power for a sixth consecutive term in 2024 under the leadership of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik.
The BJD has come a long way in the past 25 years from being a minor regional party. Since its formation in December 1997, it is likely the only regional party to have never lost an election it ran in. While the party celebrated its 25th anniversary last week, Naveen Patnaik has served as chief minister for a continuous 22 and a half years.
How BJD was created?
According to former Union minister and well-known Odia politician Srikant Jena, who was a member of the Janata Dal at the time, the BJD was founded in 1997 by leaders of the Janata Dal’s split group.
Jena claims that following the Janata Dal split, the BJP’s state-level manoeuvres actually gave rise to the BJD.
After his father passed away in 1997, Naveen Patnaik won his first by-election as an MP from the Aska Lok Sabha constituency on a Janata Dal ticket. The Inder Kumar Gujral administration at the centre was overthrown shortly after when the Congress withdrew its backing. The Janata Dal split, and the BJP saw this as an opportunity.
Biju babu, the father of Naveen Patnaik, was reportedly opposed to an alliance with the BJP, according to senior BJD members. After his passing and the breakup of the Janata Dal, BJP leader Pramod Mahajan arrived in Jena and asked for an alliance. He claimed that in order to back Atal ji’s bid for prime minister, the BJP only needs support from Odisha’s five Lok Sabha seats. When I declared I couldn’t form an alliance with the BJP, Mahajan informed me that the party would break apart, according to a senior member.
“A sizable portion of the Odisha Janata Dal decided to support the BJP. The Congress was the Janata Dal’s principal rival in Odisha. They were forced to work with the BJP in order to defeat the Congress. Political convenience at the time was more appealing to them than ideological compulsion. According to Jena, who eventually joined the Congress, the Congress was in power in Odisha and they planned to overthrow it.
Soon after, the BJD was created by Naveen Patnaik, Dilip Ray, a longtime supporter of Biju Patnaik, and other Janata Dal leaders. “That is how they joined together, and the BJP and the BJD governed the government together for ten years. The main advocate for Atal Behari Vajpayee was Pramod Mahajan. They had an idea… They determined that Vajpayee needs the support of at least five BJP members of parliament. Planning was carried out at the highest level, according to the senior member.
The party has advanced much.
Naveen Patnaik was fresh to politics when the BJD was established. He guided the party ahead and learned how to manipulate events to his advantage with the help of old Janata Dal leaders who were close to his father, like Dilip Ray and Bijoy Mohapatra.
Suresh Kumar Pujari, the BJP’s Bargarh MP, discussed how Patnaik skillfully began to marginalise the BJP after establishing the administration and ultimately broke the partnership in 2009.
“The BJP made it possible for the Janata Dal to split and for the BJD to emerge as a regional party so that we could form an alliance and compete in the parliamentary election. It was a constructive alliance. But the BJD purposefully attempted to marginalise us, taking advantage of the circumstances at the time. To make sure the Vajpayee government at the Center functions, we required their backing. In 2004, the NDA lost the election, but we (the alliance) triumphed in Odisha, according to Pujari.
According to him, the BJD began working toward dissolving the alliance between 2004 and 2009. “Naveen babu’s decision to dissolve the partnership caught us off guard. They may have been successful as a result of Naveen Babu’s careful planning, the BJP MP suggested.
Patnaik broke off his coalition with the BJP as well. Along the way, he also benched senior figures who had supported him from the beginning, like Dilip Ray, Bijoy Mohapatra, and Pyari Mohapatra.
In his book “Naveen Patnaik,” former Outlook editor Ruben Banerjee, who has followed Panaik since his early days, claims that the BJD has changed from being an anti-system party in 1996–1997 to one that is now part of the establishment.
They promised to transform the establishment when they arrived. Now, every contractor and influential person at the panchayat, block, or ground level is a supporter or member of the BJD. They now stand in for the establishment. They represent the interests of the establishment despite having been elected on an anti-establishment platform. Nothing happens without the help of the party members, Banerjee told the media.
Political observers claim that despite being 76 years old, Patnaik is still energised and aware of the threat the BJP poses. If anything, the BJP’s recent defeat in the Dhamnagar by-election served as a lesson to the party and compelled it to shake off its complacency.
Leading from the front is Patnaik. Contrary to rumours that he is unwell, the Odisha chief minister has begun touring the state, meeting with party members, and personally engaging with the public as he gets ready for the 2024 elections. He spoke to party members in Puri on December 26 as the party observed its founding day, launched projects worth crores in Balasore on December 22, and paid a visit to Angul on December 29.
Party leaders also contest the idea that Patnaik and the BJP are working together because the BJP has backed the party throughout the passage of divisive legislation in the Parliament.
Prasanna Acharya, a Rajya Sabha MP for the BJD and one of its founding members, claims that Patnaik is not your usual politician. He never accuses others and he never responds angrily. He consistently attempts to maintain positive relationships with others. He doesn’t support confrontation or giving in. But he is the last man to compromise when it comes to the interests of the state,” he remarked.
The BJD leader went on to say that Patnaik has always spoken out forcefully whenever the BJD has thought that the federal government’s actions were endangering its interests.
What endears CM Naveen Patnaik to the public
Political analysts claimed that Naveen Patnaik’s popularity with the populace, despite more than 22 years in power, is a result of a combination of a well constructed narrative about him and welfare politics. The BJD is still in the driver’s seat thanks to an uncoordinated Opposition.
Tathagata Satpathy, a former BJD member of parliament, claims that Patnaik is popular. The editor of the Odia journal Dharitri, Satpathy, told the Media Sources, “And he is probably maintaining that for his personal gain.”
Since he first assumed the position of CM, Patnaik’s reputation has not changed. His simplicity continues to endear him to the average man even after all these years, in addition to the several pro-poor initiatives that he has developed, according to the manager of one of the well-known Odia daily’s news department.
He claimed that after entering politics, Patnaik carefully crafted a narrative of himself as a straightforward man with little desires. “Up until he was 55 years old, the story went that he liked the good life, travelled the world, interacted with the affluent, etc. But once he arrived in Odisha, he developed a different story about himself,” he said.
Party officials claimed that Patnaik’s unmatched popularity with women was a key factor in the BJD’s victory.
They said that Biju Patnaik was responsible for Odisha becoming one of the first states in the nation to grant women 33% of the panchayati raj seats. According to Acharya, Patnaik upped it to 50%.
Odisha has six lakh women’s SHGs today. According to a BJD Rajya Sabha MP, there are 70 lakh women involved with SHGs who are dispersed over 30 districts. “The type of socioeconomic shift that we observe is absolutely revolutionary,” the lawmaker stated.
A “gentleman” politician who controls the party with an iron fist
Political analysts claim that although Patnaik is a “gentleman” politician, he keeps a hawk’s eye on the government and an iron grip on his party.
The way party MPs wait to be instructed the position they must take in the Parliament when it is in session is an example of Patnaik’s control over the party. The CM determines the position that party MPs will take on any critical topic. According to a bureaucrat from the Odisha cadre, the chief minister’s office decides in advance what should be said in response to questions about the state as well.
Party officials claimed Patnaik had demonstrated his abilities as a capable administrator.
Even while he doesn’t become involved in the administration’s day-to-day operations, it doesn’t imply he isn’t aware of what’s going on. “He oversees government with a hawk’s eye. He has been adamant about not tolerating corruption. A top political figure added, “He doesn’t hesitate to take stern measures against a bureaucracy or a minister accused of major corruption accusations.
According to BJD leaders, the reason the party has maintained power in the coastal state is because Patnaik has put others before himself since day one.
Another senior member remarked, “He has driven, grown, engaged, and constructed this leadership which is so transformational in nature. He has built it on the core value of service to the people of Odisha.
amfnews