There is an old saying, even if you are wise enough to understand global politics; you will still be surprised with the outcome of Indian elections. Just when paid mainstream media was going ga ga with its national coverage (a yearly rhetoric ever since Narendra Modi won the Lok Sabha elections) and a pre-election majority for the 'un-holy' alliance of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh, BJP has come up with huge surprises in Maharashtra and Odisha elections. To tie up with Shiv Sena or not is a separate question but the win in Maharashtra stands out in national politics as well, where politicians like Sanjay Nirupam, Sharad Pawar are looking for voluntary retirement schemes from regional politics. Nevertheless, solid performance of BJP in Odisha Panchayat Election marks a completely new beginning for the national party. Not only it hints the promise BJP has in states like Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal but also highlights the fact that common people are tired of whimsical autocrats belonging to these  regional parties.

In the recently concluded Panchayat elections in Odisha BJP obtained 306 seats out of 851. Although the reigning BJD managed to sneak past BJP with 460 seats, the stupendous rise of BJP in Odisha is outstanding considering its nascent base in the eastern part of India. From 36 seats in 2012 to 306 seats this year, Odisha has witnessed a surgical strike in elections, giving a much needed call for change from the reign of BJD. A whopping 850% increase in election mandate clearly indicates that the people of Odisha definitely want BJP in a much bigger role ahead of the Assembly Elections. Even in case of zila parishads, BJP has won 8 zila parishads out of 30.

First and foremost, the resounding performance of BJP in Odisha Panchayat elections justifies the fact that demonetization didn't hurt the rural economy. Much was said amidst one sided campaign that people from the villages will be 'showering' their anger on the election mandate. In reality, they have only 'blessed' the BJP  and Narendra Modi for selfless devotion and commitment in eradicating corruption from Indian fraternity.  Secondly, here also, Congress has been pushed to third position in most of the seats. It seems Congress-mukt Bharat isn't a distant reality. In any case, the Congress leaders seem to be in a hurry to prove that more than any other political party.  In the state front, ever since Navin Patanaik, the undisputed leader of BJD as well as the reigning Chief Minister of Odisha has left his ally BJP in 'motivated' ideology of 'secularism', BJD has witnessed gradual slump in people's mandate.  It seems the personal charisma of Navin Pattanaik isn't working in favour of BJD anymore.

Navin Pattanaik's alleged indirect involvement in the biggest chit fund scam in the history of Odisha hasn't helped the situation either. Many MPs, MLAs are under the scanner of the investigating agency and there has been a growing opinion that BJD is no more a transparent party. The old cries of 'central neglect' aren't fetching votes for BJD either.  Apart from that, there has been rumours on why Navin Patanaik chose not to campaign for Panchayat elections.  Some seasoned politicians are of the opinion that Navin Pattanaik was previously briefed of such setback in the Panchayat Elections.

2019 will be a deciding year for Odisha as the state will decide it's fortune in the Assembly Election as well along with stipulated Lok Sabha elections. One thing is crystal clear in this regard that gone are those days when BJD had no alternative in Odisha. Who knows, 2019 can bring up a huge surprise for BJP as well!