Pradeep Majhi Lists Three Major Reasons For BJD’s 2024 Polls Debacle

Bhubaneswar, Sep 24: After a reign of 24 years in Odisha, former CM Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) faced a heavy electoral defeat in 2024 Lok Sabha and State assembly elections which has been analyzed by party’s disheartened leaders till today.

In a reflection to BJD’s recent poll debacle, party’s national spokesperson Pradeep Kumar Majhi, who lost the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat, pointed out that speculation on pre-poll alliance, internal infighting and poor election management are the three main reasons behind the party's loss.

Speaking at a meeting with BJD’s organizational workers from Nabarangpur and Kalahandi districts before BJD president Naveen Patnaik at Sankha Bhawan here on Monday, Majhi said that due to the speculation about the potential alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), their party lost credibility among the minority, particularly the Christian community.

Majhi also pointed out that infighting among party leaders weakened the BJD’s support base during the elections. However, he didn’t take any name of party leaders allegedly involved in infighting.

The Tribal leader further said that the party’s poor strategy and bad election management were the other reasons for the poll debacle.

In the 2024 elections, the BJD secured 51 seats of total 147 seats in State Assembly, against 112 seats in the 2019 polls. Similarly, the BJD failed to win a single seat out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in the State this year.