Is Naveen Patnaik very popular in Odisha?
Currently despite all the efforts in odisha, congress seems to be lagging behind in every effort to create an atmosphere in its favor. naveen patnaik insists that whatever vote bank there is against him in the state, it should be divided between bjp and Congress. If this happens, it will become easy for Biju Janata Dal to gain power in odisha for the sixth consecutive time. It was under this strategy that naveen patnaik had decided not to join the opposition alliance 'India'. If they had agreed to join the 'India' alliance, it could have gone in favor of bjp in Odisha.
Meanwhile the biggest aspect in favor of naveen patnaik is the trust of the people of odisha on him. On this aspect, the biggest challenge before bjp is a data-face like naveen patnaik at the state level. Baijayant Panda, who was once very close to naveen patnaik, has been with bjp since march 2019. There is no doubt that bjp has gained strength in the state with the help of Baijayant Panda, despite this, Baijayant Panda's influence is not the same in every area of odisha, due to which bjp becomes a threat to naveen Patnaik.
congress is also trying to regain its lost support base in Odisha. For this, last month congress has been successful in bringing back many of its old veteran leaders into the party once again. These include leaders like former chief minister and nine-time lok sabha mp Giridhar Gamang, former mp Hema Gamang, Sanjay Bhoi. But the question is also whether these leaders still have the same hold as before. Given the way bjp has been successful in capturing the opposition space in odisha in the last few years, there is not much hope left for congress at present.