In Surat, Odia Voters were the Gamechangers

ONI Bureau: In the business hub Surat, BJP was on a sticky wicket, thanks to resentment among the businessmen post demonetisation and GST. They were a divided lot. But, voters from Odisha came to the rescue of the party. Had BJP not won all seats in Surat, the results would be different.

Thanks to aggressive campaign by Odisha BJP leaders, including Dharmendra Pradhan, Jual Oram, Pinky Pradhan who worked hard to woo the Odia voters, who gave a big thumps up to PM Modi and BJP.

BJP swept Surat by winning all 12 seats in Surat, and it was largely possible due to the overwhelming support from Odia voters, mostly from Ganjam. BJP leades in Odisha see this as a big development, saying the BJP would get the same response in Ganjam in 2019, which would help the party to breach Naveen Patnaik’s bastion in the district.