The performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Odisha assembly elections has been historic, and the candidate who defeated Biju Janata Dal’s supremo and five-time Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik by 16000 votes is the talk of the town. The loss marked the 77-year-old leader’s first electoral setback from Kantabanji since he entered politics and the man who defeated the veteran leader is BJP’s Laxman Bagh.
Naveen Patnaik contested from two seats, Hinjili and Kantabanji during the Odisha assembly elections and won in the former by a mere 4600 votes. However, he had to face a shocking defeat at the hands of an ordinary BJP worker in the other assembly seat. Laxman Bag (48) received 90876 votes, according to the data accessible on the Election Commission website. Meanwhile, Naveen Patnaik managed to secure only 74,532 votes. Notably, people are now lauding Laxman Bagh after learning about his humble background.
Laxman Bag hails from a low-income farming family and was once employed as a daily wage worker. Furthermore, he worked as a labourer loading and unloading goods from trucks to supplement his income. Later, he invested in a truck of his own and entered the transportation industry. Afterwards, he focused on his business and grew prosperous. As time passed and he continued working, he also ventured into politics. In 2014, he ran for office and finished third. He then ran for office again in 2019 from the same place but was defeated by Congressman Santosh Singh Saluja by a mere 128 votes.
However, he worked hard and relentlessly for five more years and his efforts came to fruition in 2024. He received over 90 thousand votes and not only defeated the former chief minister but also Santosh Singh Saluja by 64 thousand votes. It is reported that although people were aware that he was performing well and leading, they did not believe he would prevail over a seasoned leader like Naveen Patnaik. However, Bag has achieved an unimaginable feat in Odisha politics.
The BJP leader raised the issue of migration of workers in his constituency and continued to discuss the matter even after he won. He stated that the problems affecting Kantabanji are a lack of infrastructure in the health and education sectors, labour migration and unemployment. He assured that all of these issues will be resolved after the formation of the new government on 10th June and there is going to be a fresh start in the state. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would reward the people with a present in return for their faith in him and show them the path of development.
