Bhubaneswar: The Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Odisha for its ‘poor’ approval rating among the people in a survey conducted by a media house recently.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has been adjudged as the 8th best performing Chief Minister in the country with an approval rating of 34.2 per cent among the people as per the ‘Mood of the Nation’ survey conducted by the ‘India Today’ media group.

The BJD claimed that its leader Naveen Patnaik had been positioned as the most popular Chief Minister in his home state by the same survey within just five years of its formation.

“Our leader Naveen Patnaik had been adjudged as the most popular Chief Minister in home state consecutively from 2018 to 2024. But, the incumbent Chief Minister has been given 8th rank in recent survey by the media house. The BJP came to power by promising rapid development in Odisha but the popularity of the Chief Minister dipped significantly in the survey,” said BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty.

It is worth mentioning here that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been adjudged as the most popular Chief Minister in the home state with an approval rating of 44.6 per cent.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has been voted as the second popular Chief Minister while Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is the third popular Chief Minister in the survey.

As per the survey, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu has been adjudged as the seventh poplar Chief Minister and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the 9th popular Chief Minister.