The ruling BJD kept its winning spree intact decimating the two Opposition parties, Congress and BJP, in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation polls by securing a clear majority to form the council for the second time in a row.
Out of the total 67 wards, the results of which were declared on Thursday, the BJD got a lion's share of 49 wards. While the BJP candidates secured only four wards, the Congress was reduced to the third position with only winning two seats and the Independents, mostly the BJD rebels, won in 12 wards.
The BJD is able to form the Council of the BMC after the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation. The elections for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayer are scheduled to be held on January 17 and February 5, respectively.
Interestingly, amidst the resounding victory, Bhubaneswar Ekamra MlA Ashok Chandra Panda and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik faced some reverses. Of the 23 wards under the Ekamra Assembly constituency, which is represented by Panda and where the Chief Minister's residence, Naveen Niwas, is located, the BJD candidates were defeated in 10 wards. Despite intensive campaign by the Chief Minister in his area in favour of his party candidates, the results pointed a finger at him on his popularity.
The Chief Minister's choice of NGO activist linkan Subuddhi for ward 8 proved wrong as she was defeated. Patnaik had vetoed and risked to field Subuddhi, ignoring the party candidates. After the results were declared, Patnaik thanked all the voters supporting the BJD candidates. He also thanked the BJD party workers for their effort in the success.
The Congress continued to suffer yet another humiliating defeat and failed to regain its lost ground in the successive UlB polls in three phases during the last five months while BJP's performance has been very dismal. The leadership of both the national parties had failed to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor against Chief Minister Patnaik and the ruling BJD. Particularly, the strategy of the dawn to dusk hartal called by the Pradesh Congress Committee on the eve of the BMC polls on Tuesday demanding resignation of Patnaik for his alleged involvement in the Rs 60,000 mining scam failed to make any impact on the poll results in the BMC.
The BJP and the Congress State leaders were to be blamed for the BMC results as they did not want to learn any thing from the three successive urban poll debacles. While the BJD had a well knit poll strategy and coordinated campaign, this was absent in case of the Congress and the BJP. While Chief Minister Patnaik hit the campaign trail for a week, appealing voters to vote for his party candidates, the BJP leaders lacked the same spirit.
Party State president KV Singh Deo seemed to be not serious for the BMC polls and was no where to be seen in the entire fortnight-long campaign in Bhubaneswar except on the last day. Interestingly, when the campaign was at its peak, the BJP State leadership chose to have a two-day brainstorming session in Bhubaneswar to chalk out the strategies for success of Narendra Modi's proposed rally in the capital city in presence of scores of party leaders. But the party leaders did not think it politically wise to engage its top leaders to come to the aid of the cash strapped party nominees and boost their morale.
Though the party leadership had announced to review its poor show in polls earlier and take position organisationally for the upcoming polls, nothing concrete was done to improve its performance to regain the lost ground. Rather, the apathetic attitude of the leadership had dismayed the rank and file in the State.
The Congress also could not rise above its stiff factionalism even during the BMC polls and the leaders continued opposing Jayadev Jena. Jena had continued his mistake in not consulting the party leaders or office bearers to forge a coordinated strategy to fight the onslaught of the BJD. There was no preparation and combined effort to go to the people in Bhubaneswar. Despite being a national party, its vulnerability was well exposed from the fact that it failed to select suitable candidates and even could not field nominees in all the 67 wards.
Reacting over the sweeping results, senior BJD leader and Rural Development Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha said citizens of the capital city had supported the party overwhelmingly for the development works and with the expectation that the BJD candidates would keep the growth momentum going. On the rebels winning the polls, he said the party did not need to seek their support to form the council as the party had won a two-thirds majority.
PCC chief Jena, in his reaction, alleged that the ruling party purchased votes in some form or the other. However, he clarified that the BMC results would not have any bearing on the upcoming 2014 lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
The BJP leadership, however, admitted the poor performance of the party and hoped that the party's show would be much better in the ensuing polls. “We will review the poll results,” said a senior leader of the party.