Bhubaneswar: With BJP is breathing down BJD’s neck as shown in the unofficial results of the first three phases of 3-tier panchayat polls, the latter has admitted that overconfidence on the part of party members has led it to lose ground to the former.
“Overconfidence many a times leads to the downfall of a party. In some places our self-confidence was so high that it manifested as overconfidence. There are places where party functioning was not proper. The same functioning had brought us success hence we will review our performance after polls,” said BJD spokesperson, Amar Satpathy.
A look at the unofficial results after the three of five phases reveal that as compared to the previous election in 2012, the ruling BJD has lost as many as 135 Zilla Parishad zones till now.
BJD supremo and CM Naveen Patnaik’s noticeable lack of participation in the campaigning, discord within the party and mismanagement of the elections at a political level are being cited to be the reasons behind its sub-standard results so far. Some even attribute that Congress’ decline has played out in favour of the BJP pushing it beyond the comfort zone of the BJD.
Rumors are doing rounds in the political quarters that Naveen Patnaik is displeased with his party’s performance and some strict action could be taken after the post-poll performance review.
Also Read: 3rd phase panchayat poll results: BJD, BJP battle it out as Congress falls flat
BJD’s unquestionable dominance has been seriously challenged by the BJP which has seriously dented the track record of some of the ruling party heavyweights. In Bolangir, MP Kalikesh Singhdeo has failed to achieve cent percent results. Similarly, in Bargarh, MLA Debesh Acharya, MP Prasanna Acharya, MLA Sushant Singh have not been able to achieve the desired results. BJD’s performance in Sonepur has been a setback for MLA Padmanav Behera and the picture is also not so rosy for speaker Niranjan Pujari. BJP has been able to make inroads into the Jajpur and Bijharpur, much to the discomfort of Minister Pranab Prakash Dash and MLA Pramila Mallick. Similarly, the saffron party has been able to stamp its footprint in BJD heavyweight and minister Damodar Rout’s constituency Jagatsinghpur.
“I manage the elections in my constituency myself. There were no management-related problems. I have never seen any rally or public meetings of BJP here. But how they were able to claim 2 zones is something which needs review. I will look into it and ensure that it will not be repeated in the Assembly polls,” said Rout.