ABSTRACT
Odisha was one state in India where parliamentary and assembly elections took place simultaneously but the voters made a judicious distinction between the two while making their electoral choices. Based on the NES data the two authors observe that the state voters preferred Modi as the PM but did not vote overwhelmingly for the BJP; they preferred Naveen Patnaik as CM but remained apprehensive about BJD’s possible role as a national force. These seemingly conflicting responses of voters did not produce any decisive political binary between the BJP and the BJD. While the BJP gained in terms of vote share, BJD was able to retain its popularity. Decline of the Congress in the state and the emergence of women-centric political discourse were other features of the 2019 elections in the state.
