How a friendly match has turned into a battle in Odisha

When most of the top opposition leaders flew to Bihar last year to present a ‘formidable front’ against the ever-strong Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik was one of the few big faces missing at the Patna meeting, which saw the birth of the INDIA bloc. A month before the June 2023 Patna meeting, Patnaik had made it clear that he would go solo in the upcoming elections, calling it a ‘principle’ of his party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD).