Bhubaneswar, Dec. 25: Led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, the BJD finds itself going strong and much ahead of its rivals in spite of several controversies dogging the party, as it gears up to celebrate its 19th foundation day tomorrow.

The chief minister, who turned anti-incumbency on its head in the 2014 elections winning a stunning 117 seats in the 147 strong Assembly, has during this period weathered many a storm successfully while making short work of his rivals. His USP has been a clean image and ability to sustain a slew of welfare programmes in the face of financial crunch. This might have earned him the sobriquet "Naveen the populist" but it has kept his popularity undiminished among the masses.

That he remains the darling of the people was proved with his party winning the civic polls at 12 places across the state since the Assembly verdict gave him a record fourth term in office in 2014. He campaigned in the municipal polls unfazed by the Opposition campaign that centred around the multi-crore mining scam being probed by the CBI which arrested, among others, a sitting MP and MLA of his party.

"He is one chief minister whose image has remained untainted by sca-ndals since he stepped into politics 20 years ago. People are convinced that he has zero tolerance for corruption and that he means business," said BJD Rajya Sabha member Narendra Swain. "The Opposition have been targeting him since he came to power but they will never be successful."

But Naveen has struggled hard to reach the unassailable position he enjoys now. His fourth term has been the most difficult with one controversy after another rocking his government. Even as he was grappling with the problem of malnutrition deaths in the tribal-dominated Nagada village, Japanese encephalitis assumed epidemic proportions in Malkangiri district providing fodder to the Opposition.

Then, 27 people were killed in a fire at a major hospital in Bhubaneswar with fingers being pointed at the then health minister Atanu Saby-asachi Nayak. But before the controversy could snowball into a crisis, Naveen got rid of Nayak, taking the sting out of the Opposition's campaign.

At the moment, his government is battling a sex scandal with a video clip purportedly showing Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena in a compromising position doing the rounds of social media.

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But the chief minister remains unfazed secure in the knowledge that people trust him and the good work that he has been doing.

His welfare schemes, including cheap rice for people, Rs 5-a-meal for the poor in the cities and the Mamta project to help pregnant women, have brought him closer to the masses. His generosity seems to have grown manifold with the BJD's campaign for the upcoming panchayat elections on in full swing.

Naveen, who has stolen to march over his rivals by touring almost all the district of the state even before panchayat poll dates are announced, has been cleverly targeting his government's resources at the poor. Last July, he decided to bring three lakh more people under the social security net at an additional expense of Rs 115 crore. He has also come up with more populist programmes such as Biju Atma Nijukti Yojana and Special Employment Generation Programme.

All these have endeared him to the voters and he has succeeded in blunting the edge of the Opposition's criticism on the issue of his government not doing its bit to promote Odia by offering online Odia Cerification Courses to Odias living abroad.

Even on the industrial front, the BJD government has succeeded in refurbishing its image following the withdrawals of Posco and ArcelorMittal by attracting fresh investments through well-organised conclaves in Bhubaneswar and Bangalore.

"No wonder we are ahead of our rivals," said BJD Rajya Sabha member Narendra Swain.

But such claims are contested by rivals in BJP and Congress.

"Thanks to large-scale corruption, the BJD today seems to be on ventilator support. The chief minister should stop bragging about his achievements," said BJP national secretary Suresh Pujari.

Former state Congress president Jaydev Jena agreed. "His brand of populism has a short life. People will soon see through his game."