Bhaskar Parichha
Voters in Odisha have shown remarkable maturity and thoughtfulness in the just concluded parliamentary as well as assembly elections. While they have voted for a stable government at the Centre, the electorate has chosen the ruling BJD to be their government in the state.
Possibly, they have realized the necessity of a stable government in Delhi and not any ‘gathbandhan’ type of command structure. By sending as many as 8 MPs from Odisha,the voters have not only strengthened the BJP’s overall kitty, they sent out a clear message that Modi will be a better Prime Minister than any other candidate from the ‘mixed masala’ configuration.
In the 2014 election, however, voters in Odisha were not so much enamored by the Modi wave and, as we had seen, every region voted for the same party –the Biju Janata Dal.The national trend was conveniently bucked.
Voters often vote differently in national and State elections. But here the case is different. Since elections in Odisha are held at the same time for the parliament as the state legislature, the BJD has had slightly an advantage over the years. It is usually easier for governments to go for electioneering if the polls are held simultaneously. But, not this time round.
The 2019 results in Odisha show that people today are an experienced lot and political parties can’t take them for granted .Political analysts too should lean down to the greater wisdom of the people in this election.
By choosing one party for Lok Sabha and another party for the Vidhan Sabha,the voters have shown their inclination for different leaders : ‘Modi at the centre and Naveen in the state’ would go the slogan. This is for the first time that split voting has taken place in many LS constituencies in Odisha . For the record, the BJD has won 12 seats while the BJP 8 seats and Congress 1.
Whether it is in Bolangir, Balasore ,Bargarh, Mayurbhanj ,Kalahandi or even the prestigious Bhubaneswar LS seat,the preference of the voters are noteworthy. In many of these parliamentary constituencies, some assembly seats have gone to the ruling BJD while in some others the BJP candidates have won.
To illustrate, in the Bijepur assembly segment chief minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik has won while the voters have chosen BJP’s Suresh Pujari as their representative in Parliament. In Bhubaneswar LS seat, BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi has won the seat; but out of the seven assembly seats, six have gone to BJD and one to Congress.
Ditto for Koraput.The Koraput LS seat has been captured by the Congress candidate Saptagiri Ulaka while only one assembly seat has been won by his party colleague Tara Bahinipati of Jeypore.Yet another case is Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency. Here too the voters’ choice has been quite at variance. Out of the seven assembly seats, four have gone to BJD, two to Congress and one to BJP.Yet the LS seat has gone to BJP’s Sangeeta Singhdeo.
By choosing one party for Lok Sabha and another party for the Vidhan Sabha,the voters have shown their inclination for different leaders : ‘Modi at the centre and Naveen in the state’ would go the slogan.
Likewise, the Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat has been won by BJP’s Basant Kumar Panda,but five assembly seats have gone to BJD,one to Congress and another one to BJP.
On the whole ,Odisha’s voters have come of age and they can no longer be seen as gullible voters.
(The writer is a senior journalist and Consulting Edior, OdishaPlus)