By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 20, 2017 : The ruling Biju Janata Dal [BJD]’s lacklustre performance in western Odisha in the ongoing three-tier panchayat polls has virtually stunned the leaders forcing them to ponder over the factors leading to such dismal battle of ballots.

Out of the 189 Zilla Parishad zones across 10 western Odisha districts where polls have been conducted till now, the BJD has only be able to claim only 51. Admittedly, the BJP always fared more than average in western parts of the state due to demographic and other reasons. But The ruling-party’s poor show in the Western parts of Odisha is beyond comprehension of many both inside and outside the party.

“Calculation has gone totally wrong. We never expected Congress to put up such a weak performance in Western Odisha and not field any candidates. We had absolutely no idea that the grassroots cadres of the Congress would transfer their votes. However, places where our calculations have gone wrong will be reviewed and set right,” said BJD spokesperson, Surya Narayan Patro.

Adding salt to injury, the BJP also has found success in some of the ruling BJD’s stronghold regions of Coastal and Northern Odisha.

Many inside the party attribute the dominance of a coterie of bureaucrats in the Naveen Pantaik government, complacency and overconfidence among the party cadres as the reason for the party’s debacle in western Odisha.

“We will examine if there have been any election management-related issues which led to such a performance. Another reason could be our inability to assess the changing political equation in the state. However, I feel that self confidence is necessary, but it should not turn into overconfidence,” said BJD spokesperson, Amar Satpathy.

BJD’s spokesperson, Rabi Narayan Nanda summed up saying, “The party workers were involved in the elections and their focus was on the sarpanch and samiti member posts. This could be the reason why the party lost focus on the ZP zones.”

For the BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, tough days are ahead with BJP emerging as a close rival and it could oust the government in the next assembly poll if the ruling party does not keep its house in order and see the writing in the wall.