India, Nov. 3 -- An assembly bypoll in western Odisha district of Nuapada, scheduled for November 11, may measure whether Odisha's seismic political shift last year was a genuine transformation or a temporary aberration as it is the first election since Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) fortress crumbled after 24 years of uninterrupted dominion in the 2024 polls.

The Nuapada seat fell vacant following the death of Rajendra Dholakia, a four-time legislator and former minister whose political longevity reflected the BJD's stranglehold on this constituency. In the 2024 assembly election, Dholakia had secured victory with a comfortable margin.

What makes Nuapada compelling is not merely its status as the electoral test of the Bharatiya...