TNI Bureau: Brahmagiri MLA Upasna Mohapatra, who carries the legacy of her late father Lulu Mohapatra, turned out to be an effective poll manager, along with her team, in Nuapada Bypoll. Upasna, who managed the women voters effectively in Brahmagiri during 2024 polls, despite being in Opposition, implemented the similar strategy in Nuapada.

What she and her team did, will remain a secret. But, there is little doubt that they penetrated deep into the women vote bank, with an upgraded version of BJD’s old strategy and it worked wonders. As Nuapada had more women than male voters, it helped in improving the victory margin further.

Along with Upasna, Bhatli MLA Irasish Acharya and Dharmasala MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo (Liku) played a key role in managing the women vote bank that propelled BJP to a spectacular and resound victory. Both the MLAs were highly effective in key pockets where BJD and Congress were growing strong. The victory margin stunned even the poll pundits and party’s strategists. And, women voters were crucial to this figure.

The BJD team worked hard, but failed in the end, as it became difficult for them to penetrate deeper due to compulsions of being in Opposition. Over the last few months, Upasna has earned the trust of CM Mohan Majhi as well as BJP Odisha President Manmohan Samal, which may help her build a strong political career.