Amid setback for BJP, will anti-incumbency play key role in Odisha?

Bhubaneswar: If the outcome of Assembly polls in 5 States is anything to go by, then it won't be an exaggeration to conclude that anti-incumbency could play a major role in the 2019 general elections. Speculations are already doing rounds that the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha may face anti-incumbency in the 2019 elections given BJP's performance in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

BJP under the leadership of Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chouhan went to polls with development agenda and both the leaders were quite popular among the masses.

Though there was no resentment against Raman Singh or Shivraj Chouhan, political experts believe the party suffered because of discontent towards cabinet ministers and MLAs. Similar is the situation in Odisha as even though there is no dent to the popularity of CM Naveen Patnaik, there is growing resentment against the ruling-party MLAs.

Major opposition parties in Odisha including BJP and Congress too feel that the people of the State will vote for change in the upcoming 2019 elections.

“People in Chhattisgarh had realised the truth about governance of BJP and the people in Odisha know how the government is functioning here. We hope that people will support Congress in the upcoming polls,” said Odisha Congress chief, Niranjan Patnaik.

Senior BJP leader Pratap Sarangi too stated that the results of the recent assembly elections in other states clearly suggest that people want change and we accept people’s mandate. “Winds of change will certainly blow in Odisha,” said Sarangi.

Ruling-BJD spokesperson, Arun Sahoo asserted that whatever the BJP is aspiring won’t materialise as people of Odisha have tremendous faith on CM Naveen Patnaik.

As BJP suffered a setback in the Hindi heartland many believe that the BJP and BJD may adopt a new strategy to woo voters ahead of the crucial 2019 polls in Odisha.

In a tweet, former Kendrapara MP Baijayant 'Jay' Panda congratulated Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the victory.

Rahul Gandhi deserves credit for sheer determination.
Not giving up despite yrs of setbacks, he & his team of veterans + new gen leaders have clawed their way back from irrelevance to success in this round. Congrats?
But 2019 is far from a foregone conclusion. It'll get intrstg

— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) December 11, 2018