By Umesh Chandra sahoo
Campaigning and political rallies in Bijepur by election not only had demonstrated but also there was the hyper level of symbolic politics and massive expenditure of money for vote purchasing.
By election apprehended on 24 February, 2018 where 82.06 percent of the valid vote had been casted in the three blocks of Gaisilot, Bijepur and Barpali under the Bijepur constituency. The final mandate after the counting of the 28th rounds have confirmed one sided dominance mandate to the BJD. The BJD has acknowledged the mandate of 102871 votes, while the BJP reached up to 60938, only 10274 numbers of votes had gone into the hand of The congress and 1620 votes had polled in NOTA. During the counting, each and every round had been legitimizing to lead by the BJD candidate Rita Sahu. What is the rationale behind for such turned out in Bijepur by election in the sphere of electoral politics in Odisha.
From 2004 to 2017, the congress had been subsequently retained that constituency but this by election interprets some things embossment, the debacle of the congress had reached to the maximum here because of the delayed candidate selection, negligence of the central leaders in the political campaigning and the internal fragmentation of the Odisha congress. Deficient of the stars campaigners had been paid much. Only 5.4 percent valid vote has shared only though the candidate has a strong organizational skill and also god image in Gaisilat Block, but again for the higher fragmentation led to establish to atrocious political situation. The BJP seems to allegation that there was a higher deal between congress and BJD for the changing pattern of the voting behavior , on the other hand , the national congress at Delhi had not funded well .
If I am analyzing BJP , the BJP has got the 33 percent of the vote sharing . And in the dominance area of the BJP candidate, the vote has been shifted to the BJD in Barpali block. The aggressive violence nature of political method adopted by Odisha BJP has paid the same. The creditability politics and development paradigm urged by Modi Ji could not accomplish properly. Massive camping, rally and press release are to be found in day to day basis by the central and local BJP leaders. But the two major incidences interrogatively would have been rapid decline of the vote bank of the BJP including the first and foremost; a man had thrown the shoe in a Chief Minster stage during political address to the people of Kumbhari village by the BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik in 20th February. The man was a worker of the BJP. Second incidence asserted in the gun and bullet fight towards Subrat Singh and his followers (brother of the labour Minister Shri Susant Singh of the BJD). These two incidences had pushed flipside the BJP in the voting behavior and more than 10 percent sympathy vote had gone in to the hand of the BJD. Addition to this all the BJP leaders most of the time criticized the BJD government as value less and in efficient governance and they attacked to the Naveen Patnaik as incapable and irrational administrator despite of the development work executing by the union government.
The BJD had started the greater home work and political course much earlier likely in December and the candidate also declared earlier compare to other political parties. The workers, MLAs and Ministers had been focusing on the social development works and the good governance and the concerning the people for the same from the booth to block level despite making the violent and uncivilized politics. They have much concerted to the social development, quicker shout out the issue of Bijepur and endeavored to portfolio the image of Naveen and his populist policies.
The pivotal point sparks as the coordination and cooperation between workers, leaders and the party supremo had progressed in a smooth manner. Secondly the clean and decent image of Naveen Patnaik and his writhing strength of enhancing the social development programes have fetched the pro-incumbency for him and for the party. In the recent future the chief Minister has awarded as the ideal chief Minister and best Administrator which have accelerated the high vote bank and transformed the voting behavior.
Contextually, there are no such single opposition leader has emerged now from the BJP of the Congress to confirm the charismatic and populist image of Naveen Patnaik as well as inclusive development programes and its achievement in last 17th years which create Odisha as faster growing state in the developmental genesis in India. Thirdly the aggressive and criminals politics used by the BJP at on hand , neutrality politics of Congress and the peacefuland performance based political methord of BJD make the same. Apparatus of voting behavior in Odisha generally is not influenced by the identity politics and there seems to be no such space for the gundaism and violence politics in Odisha.
Efficient strategy and methods are utilized by the party president of the BJD and his working style has finally decided the expansionary victory though the BJD had faced the certain debacle in the Zillaparisad Seats in Bijepur in Panchayats election on February 2017. After winning of the Bijepur , Naveen patnaik as a party president urged a that ‘this is the victory of the people of Bijepur, victory of peace, love and the development works rather than violence and gungagiri politics of the BJP’.
In the nutshell, the charismatic image and rationalized strategic building technique in electoral politics by Naveen proof beyond the anti-incumbency, perhaps the linearity between the policy making and executing at the grass root level for the every section of the people have brought the huge margin victory for the BJD in the Bijepur. The role of Naveen and the BJD could not be escaped in the regional or the national political history of the 21th centuary in India.
Umesh Chandra sahoo
Phd scholar, CPS/SSS, JNU
President of Biju Chhatra Janata Dal – Delhi Chapter
Comments are closed.