India, June 5 -- A rising popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi against a fading Naveen Patnaik; a scattered BJD campaign that failed to paint the BJP as a threat over five years; and an array of senior BJP leaders that held their own-there were several factors that saw the BJD fritter away their advantage in the Lok Sabha in Odisha, helping the BJP to an unprecedented win. In results declared on Tuesday, the national party increased its tally from the 8 seats it won in 2019 to an unprecedented 19 of the 21 seats on offer in the state, reducing the BJD to a solitary seat.

Senior BJD leaders admitted that the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had skyrocketed over the past five years, juxtaposed with the loosening control of ...