Odisha On The Way To Spawn Another Regional Party

Bhubaneswar : Speculation over the possible emergence of a new regional political party in Odisha has intensified at a time when the state’s once-dominant Biju Janata Dal (BJD) appears to be facing an existential crisis. The BJD’s decisive defeat in the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, followed by its poor showing in the Nuapara Assembly bypoll, has raised serious questions about its capacity for revival—and, more broadly, about whether Odisha’s political space can accommodate another durable regional force.

The Nuapara bypoll, in which the BJD finished a distant third behind the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, proved particularly damaging. By-elections are often treated as mid-term referendums, and this verdict sent a demoralising signal to the BJD’s organisational ranks. The erosion has since become more visible at the grassroots, with panchayat- and block-level representatives struggling to function effectively under a BJP-led state administration. Defections to the BJP have gathered pace, reinforcing perceptions that the BJD’s long-standing political hegemony has been decisively broken.

It is against this backdrop that rumours of a new regional outfit have gained traction. The trigger was the expulsion of former Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim and his subsequent meetings with senior leaders, including Bijoy Mohapatra—one of the founding figures of the BJD—and several Congress leaders across districts such as Jajpur. While no formal announcement has been made, the optics of these interactions have fuelled political conjecture. 

Yet Odisha’s political history offers cautionary lessons for those seeking to build a new regional alternative. Since the state’s formation as a separate province in 1936, regional parties have repeatedly emerged, only to fragment or fade away. The lone exception has been the BJD, which not only completed full terms in office but ruled uninterruptedly for over two decades—an achievement unmatched by any other regional formation in the state. 

The earliest significant regional force, the Ganatantra Parishad, emerged in the late 1940s as an articulation of Western Odisha’s distinct socio-economic and cultural identity. Founded by former princely rulers, it successfully challenged Congress dominance and even shared power in a coalition government in the early 1960s. However, its limited social base and leadership-centric nature ultimately constrained its longevity. 

Subsequent regional experiments—such as the Jana Congress formed by Dr Harekrushna Mahatab in 1966, and later outfits like the Utkal Congress and Jagrat Congress—were largely products of intra-Congress schisms or regional grievances. While these parties voiced legitimate concerns about regional imbalance, especially between coastal and western districts, they lacked a unifying ideology and organisational coherence. Most collapsed under the weight of internal rivalries or were absorbed into broader national coalitions. 

The BJD’s success, when it was founded in 1997, lay precisely in overcoming these structural weaknesses. Drawing upon the enduring legacy of Biju Patnaik and led by Naveen Patnaik’s unchallenged authority, the party constructed a broad social coalition cutting across regions and classes. Its emphasis on Odia pride, political autonomy from national parties, and relatively stable governance enabled it to transcend the limitations that had doomed earlier regional experiments. The BJD’s long tenure in power normalised the idea that a regional party could provide continuity and administrative stability in Odisha.

The present moment, however, is markedly different. Unlike the late 1990s, when anti-incumbency against the Congress created a clear opening, Odisha today is witnessing the consolidation of the BJP as the principal pole of power. With control over both the state government and the Centre, the BJP enjoys institutional leverage, organisational depth and resource advantages that no emerging regional party can easily counter. The Congress, though electorally weakened, still retains a residual vote base that complicates any attempt to forge a new political space.

Moreover, contemporary politics demands more than symbolic leadership or episodic alliances. A new regional party would need a compelling narrative that goes beyond opposition to the BJP or nostalgia for the BJD’s past. It would require grassroots organisation, credible leadership, financial resources and a clearly articulated development agenda capable of mobilising voters across Odisha’s diverse regions. 

In that sense, the speculation surrounding a new regional formation reflects less a concrete political project and more a sense of uncertainty within Odisha’s opposition space. The BJD’s decline has created a vacuum, but history suggests that such vacuums do not automatically produce viable alternatives. Whether the rumoured initiative can mature into a coherent political force—or merely join the long list of short-lived regional experiments—will depend on its ability to learn from Odisha’s political past while responding to the realities of a transformed electoral landscape. 

For now, the question remains open: not whether a regional party can be formed, but whether it can endure.