Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held sway over the state's electorate this time, too, nullifying the effect of the "Modi wave". This put him in the same league as J Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu and Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, who were also successful in countering the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s surge in their respective states.
During the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP's vote share in Odisha rose just four percentage points - from 17 per cent in 2009 to 21 per cent. In West Bengal, it rose from 6.4 per cent to 16.8 per cent, while in Tamil Nadu, it rose from 2.3 per cent to 5.4 per cent.
Under Patnaik, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has been in power in Odisha for 14 years. This time, the party increased its vote share from 37 per cent in 2009 to 44 per cent, overcoming speculation on anti-incumbency and dispelled fears of losing young and new voters to the BJP.
Seat-wise, the BJD swept the polls, bagging 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 117 of the 147 Assembly seats; the BJP marginally improved its tally of Lok Sabha seats from nil to one and Assembly seats from six to 10.
So what makes Patnaik the popular choice, even after 14 years of rule?
"There is no alternative," says Rabi Das, a political commentator. "It is not that there was no anti-incumbency, but if voters turned away from Naveen Patnaik, whom would they turn to in this era of personality-based politics?" he asked.
The Congress, the main Opposition party in Odisha, was in disarray due to infighting, while the BJP, with a weak organisational base in the state, failed to capitalise on the Modi wave, Das said.
He attributed the BJD's stellar show to Patnaik's massive popularity among women voters. "This year, the turnout of women voters was two per cent higher than that of male voters; about 70 per cent of the women voters cast their votes in favour of the BJD. The reservation of 50 per cent posts in panchayat bodies, most controlled by the BJD, for women, and the government's assistance to self-help groups also helped secure votes from women," he said.
"Patnaik also got a significant mandate from the poor, the weaker sections and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, owing to his welfare schemes."
During the 2009 elections, the party had reaped substantial electoral gains from a scheme through which 25 kg of rice was provided to below-poverty-line (BPL) families a month, at Rs 2/kg. Taking a leaf out of that, Patnaik rolled out a series of other welfare measures, too. These included the Mamata scheme for pregnant women, free cycles to girl students, free laptops to meritorious students passing standard XII examinations, free health insurance to farmers and construction workers, loans at cheap rates to self-help groups, and a cut in the price of rice for BPL families from Rs 2 to Rs 1/kg.
Patnaik also promoted various central schemes under the state's banner; these included programmes related to rural electrification, road connectivity and ambulance services.
During Patnaik's term, a few scams came to light in the state; these included the multi-crore illegal mining scam, depositors losing money due to unscrupulous chit-fund companies, corruption in the supply of dal for the mid-day meal scheme and siphoning of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. However, Patnaik managed to maintain a clean image by taking prompt action against several politicians and bureaucrats, said Basant Das, a political analyst.
Though some say the fact that Patnaik isn't fluent in Odia is a handicap, the way he connected with the masses during his 169 election campaign public meetings can be gauged from the outcome of the polls.
For these elections, Patnaik had personally managed all the preparations of his party - from candidate selection and deciding strategies to managing party funds. Earlier, these responsibilities were borne by his erstwhile close confidant Pyari Mohan Mohaptra, who was ousted from the party in 2012, following a rebellion of sorts.
Patnaik has several challenges before him. These include boosting investment in the state, amid a stalemate in the case of several big-ticket projects such as that of Posco. Cleaning up the mining sector and reopening closed mines, returning money to the people duped by chit-fund companies, fulfilling promises such as that on food security, providing uninterrupted power supply and addressing Naxal activism hold utmost importance.
Patnaik could deliver on all these fronts and, with the "there-is-no-alternative" factor working in his favour, he could continue to rule the state as long as his health permitted him to, quipped a BJD leader.
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
