Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the 2024 elections, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) – which has been ruling Odisha uninterrupted for the last 22 years – appears to be pivoting from the legacy of Biju Patnaik to his son Naveen Patnaik.
Party strategists say that the political branding of chief minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik is a much better way of connecting with young voters, who have only heard of Biju Patnaik but know very little about him.
This was evident when the BJD decided that its leaders and workers would take a pledge to build a ‘Naveen Odisha’ on March 5, the 107th birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik. The state government celebrates this day as Panchayati Raj Divas.
Naveen Patnaik, the president of BJD, wrote to party leaders asking them to take a pledge to work towards party unity and the interest of the state, and to build a prosperous, empowered and self-respecting ‘Naveen Odisha’ – which is not just a reference to the BJD supremo but also translates to ‘New Odisha’.
Using the chief minister’s name to coin a slogan was not lost on anyone. This was the first time the party had done so with the objective of creating a new political brand which, in its opinion, could work better than Biju’s legacy in attracting voters.
The strategy is especially focused on attracting young voters, who form a big chunk of voters when simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections will be held in the state in 2024.
Repeated invocations of Biju’s legacy are showing signs of political fatigue among people, party insiders said. A pivot towards Naveen Patnaik will re-energise them, the party hopes.
“While a majority of the young voters have only heard about Biju babu, they have both seen and heard Naveen. A large number of them were born after 2000, when Naveen became the chief minister for the first time. For them, it is far easier to identify with him than relate with someone like Biju Patnaik, about whom they have only heard from their parents,” said political analyst Shashi Kant Mishra.
The shift is also indicative of Naveen’s growing popularity and confidence. He, in fact, has been more successful in politics than his father.
While Biju Patnaik became the chief minister only twice in his long career with a gap of nearly 30 years between his two terms in office, Naveen has been ruling the state uninterrupted since 2000.
And, if he wins the 2024 elections, which seems quite likely, he would be setting the record for being the longest-serving chief minister of the country.
Also read: ‘Women Power, Clean Image’: Naveen Patnaik Revamps Cabinet With Eye on 2024 Polls
A new strategy
Biju Patnaik had formed a regional party, Utkal Congress, but it could not help him become the chief minister of the state.
On the other hand, Naveen’s Biju Janata Dal, which was founded in 1997, is one of the most successful regional parties in the country. It has won five assembly elections consecutively. The party also keeps winning a majority of the Lok Sabha seats in the state.
In its initial years, its focus was on Biju Patnaik’s legacy to win elections. The BJD government also named most of its schemes and projects after him. For example, the state has Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana, Biju Expressway, and Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, among others. Almost everything in the state under the BJD government had the name of the legendary leader.
Over the past few years, there has been a change. New schemes now just have ‘mukhya mantri‘ instead of Biju’s name.
The latest budget of the state government mentions several new schemes like Mukhyamantri Medhabi Chatra Protsahan, Mukhyamantri Disaster Resilient Saline Embankment, Mukhyamantri Janajati Jeebika Mission, Mukhyamantri Matsya Jivi Kalyan Yojana, and Mukhyamantri Sampoorna Pushti Yojana.
“This is just the beginning. Very soon one may find schemes bearing the name Naveen. Biju babu is slowly but surely giving away to his son,” said a senior leader, who did not wish to be quoted.
Most BJD leaders argue that the slogan ‘Naveen Odisha’ reflects the immense contribution of Naveen Patnaik in making Odisha one of the top-ranking states, especially in the field of higher education.
“It is one of the most attractive investment destinations in the country today. The state has also made a name for itself in the field of sports, especially hockey, at the international level. Naveen babu has actually realised the dreams of his illustrious father. The whole state is proud of him. The slogan should not be seen as an attempt to create a fresh political brand, it only indicates the continuity of the work that Biju babu had started,” said former minister and senior BJD leader Rabi Narayan Nanda.
Senior BJP leader Bhrugu Baxipatra also agreed that the re-branding will help the BJD cash in on Naveen Patnaik’s popularity among the youth. “But a set of BJD leaders are trying to keep themselves afloat in politics by projecting Naveen as the new hero. But the truth is that Naveen Odisha is a hollow slogan as the chief minister has completely failed to take the state forward,” he said.
Baxipatra claimed that Naveen has been “undoing the legacy” of his father. “The textile mills and sugar mills set up in Biju babu’s time were closed down after Naveen came to power. Biju babu was keen to ensure that people from Odisha did not go outside the state to earn their living. But under Naveen Patnaik, the number of Odia migrant labourers working in other states has kept growing. Incidentally, a majority of them hail from Ganjam, the home district of the chief minister,” the BJP leader said.
Ashutosh Mishra is an Odisha-based journalist.
