India, May 26 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has directed its Odisha unit to increase outreach on the ground and ensure the gains made in the 2024 polls are not squandered ahead of the panchayat polls that are due next year, people aware of the matter said.

In 2024, the BJP won 78 of the 147 seats in the state assembly and formed the government in Odisha for the first time, removing the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) from power after 24 years. The BJP also won 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state, even as its count in Uttar Pradesh fell from 62 in 2019 to 33, and its overall tally dropped below the majority mark in Parliament for the first time since 2014.

The BJP leadership noted that Odisha leaders were avoiding tr...