In Indian politics, parties’ rise and fall often depend on ideology and organisation as well as on how leaders project themselves. Senior Odisha politician and former minister Prafulla Ghadai recently delivered a sharp “Chanakya bani” (strategic warning) that cuts deep into the current political culture.
According to Ghadai, a political party begins to lose ground when the image of one individual overshadows the party itself. A political party’s strength lies in its collective identity, but in modern times, governments are increasingly being branded under the names of individuals.
For instance, at the national level, India currently has an NDA government, but it is more popularly referred to as the “Modi government.” Similarly, in Odisha, when the BJD was in power, it was not projected as the “BJD government” but as the “Naveen government.” Now, for the first time, Odisha has a BJP government, after decades of sacrifices, struggles, and hard work of thousands of party workers. Yet, instead of being called the “BJP government,” the narrative has shifted to calling it the “Mohan Majhi government.”
This shift—from party identity to leader identity—is what Ghadai warns against. His statement makes it clear: if personal glorification overshadows the party, the party will eventually sink.
Why This Matters for Odisha Politics
The statement is more than a personal opinion—it is a lesson for both Mohan Majhi’s BJP government and the legacy of Naveen Patnaik’s BJD. Both governments have faced similar branding, where the leader’s name eclipsed the party’s identity.
For BJP, which has finally come to power in Odisha, the risk is high. The party cadre fought for decades to bring BJP into governance, but if the focus now remains only on projecting Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, then the long-term survival of the party in Odisha could be at risk.
Ghadai’s words should serve as a reminder: governments come and go, but parties must remain stronger than individuals. If not, the same fate that he warns about—the sinking of the party—could become a political reality.
✍️ Analysis by Sunil Jena
Editor-in-Chief, The Politics Odia
